The Bond Of A Soulmate
by OrdinarilyAverage
Summary: "His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me." Bella x Marcus
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye

**Summary:** "His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a state of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."

 **Rating:** Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution. The second chapter contains attempted rape YOU'VE BEEN WARNED If it makes you feel uncomfortable, please don't read it and skip to the next chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing, except for the storyline!

 **A/N: I have been sitting here for hours... Hours. I repeat. Fumbling around with the plot of my story. Since my recent chapters have become a bit confusing I have decided to post this chapter prior- in order to help with the timeline of events. Set in NM. All credit goes to Stephenie Meyer. (Bits and pieces of this dialogue are from NM- it's the main basis of this first chapter) I made it easier for you guys to understand. I would, however, like to keep the rest of the chapters 99% of my own original content. Just using the characters for my own story.**

 **I edited and fixed up all the newest chapters, however, I really am not happy with them as I was before. I am going to fix those up to be better. I am also looking for a Beta Reader if anyone's interested.**

 **THE BOND OF A SOUL MATE: CHAPTER 1: BIRTHDAY'S, PAINTINGS, AND BLOOD.**

 **(Bella's POV)**

I woke with a start my eyelids popping open wide, the dream I had seemed more real than ever before and I gasped. Dull grey light, the familiar light of an overcast morning, took the place of the blinding sun. I remember I was standing in the meadow, with Edward. The flowers had bloomed early this season and were out there on our usual date, every Friday. The crisp air and the wonderful scent of lavender made me feel calm. However, Edward sat across from me and handed me a mirror. 'Don't you want to see how beautiful you are to me?' I remember grabbing the handle and the reflection that was before my eyes, shocked me to my core. I was old. It was one of my biggest fears when I thought about Edward and me. It was time. There never seemed to be enough of it and today was no exception. The little calendar in the corner of the clock's display informed me that today was indeed September, my birthday. I was officially 18 years old. An adult. I took a deep breath and then jumped again when my alarm went off.

I'd been dreading this day for months. All through the perfect summer, it had been the happiest summer I had ever had, the happiest summer anyone anywhere had ever had, and the rainiest summer in the history of the Olympic Peninsula - this bleak date had lurked in ambush, waiting to spring. And now that it had hit, it was even worse than I'd feared it would be. I could feel it - I was older. Every day I got older, but this was different, worse, quantifiable.

I was 18.

And Edward never would be.

I sighed as I pulled back the blankets, I was more than surprised that Charlie had not yet come in to surprise me. However, my birthday did fall on a Tuesday this year, so for the both of us it sucked that we could not stay home and hibernate for the day as Charlie had to go into work and I had school. Knowing Charlie, all he wanted to do was to sit, watch the game, and have a beer and a fatty pizza on the side. I shuddered to imagine the plans that Alice had for me. She was a force to be reckoned with, with just shopping alone, but having her in charge of birthday parties? Complete insanity. I shook my head, heading for the shower.

After washing the sweat away from my dream, I contemplated heading downstairs, and whether I could have a peaceful breakfast. I decided to skip breakfast, as I was in a hurry to get out of the house as quickly as possible. I wasn't entirely able to avoid my Dad though, and so I had to spend a few minutes acting cheerful. I honestly tried to be excited about the gifts I'd asked him not to get me, but I rarely got to enjoy having a father/daughter moment. I wanted to cry at the thought of not seeing Charlie once I was turned but I am in love with Edward. Seeing my Dad be happy for once brought tears to my eyes, knowing the heartache he would feel, forever searching for me, if I disappeared. He would never ever really believe that I would be gone. A true parent knows when their child has gone. He would be devastated, hell it might kill him. I shook my head drawing myself out of those thoughts and turned them back to Edward.

Edward would be waiting for me in the school parking lot, so I rushed to grab my books and folders form my table, to my bag and heading to the Chevy. He usually picks me up, but today I insisted that I was going to be the one to drive myself to school.

I struggled to get a grip on myself as I backed out the driveway. The vision of myself in the mirror, the one in my dream, the version I would not think of it as me, was hard to get out of my head. I couldn't feel anything but despair until I pulled into the familiar parking lot behind Forks High School and spotted Edward leaning motionlessly against his polished silver, Grandma driving Volvo. The dream had not done him justice, he was beautiful. And he was waiting there for me, just the same as every other day. It was no surprise to see Alice by his side, but Jasper as well? Great. My daily dose of Alice has come early, lucky me.

The sight of Alice waiting there, her tawny eyes brilliant with excitement, and a small silver-wrapped square in her hands, made me frown. I'd told Alice I didn't want anything, anything, not gifts or even attention, for my birthday. Obviously, my wishes were being ignored. It seemed to be a constant occurrence ever since James hurt me in the ballet studio and Alice had lost me in the airport, Edward had apparently ripped into her about it when we got back. Emmett told me while we were gaming in the lounge room, another thing Edward and Alice seemed to lack.

I slammed the door of my truck, a shower of rust specks fluttered down to the wet blacktop and walked slowly toward where they waited. Alice skipped forward to meet me, her pixie face glowing under her spiky black hair.

"Happy birthday, Bella!" Alice wrapped her arms around me in a tight squeeze, I hugged her closer, a dark feeling settled in my stomach. I actually pulled her closer and she laughed at my enthusiasm. Something was off about today, and I just could not put my finger on it.

"Shh, not so loud, everyone will hear you." I had successfully kept my birthday hidden from the rest of Fork's population. Heaven forbid if Mike found out, he would not stop continuously asking me out since he would have 'forgotten' to get me a gift. Like he had done with Jessica, earlier this year. I shuddered, looking at the gift in Alice's hand that she had yet to force it on me

"Do you want to open-" I cut Alice off and took the gift from her, stashing it in my bag. I would 'open' it later, stuffing it back into her locker when Edward could hide her thoughts from her. So her gift would not be able to see it. She grinned and winked at me. Jasper stood off from the side, it always filled me with a sense of anger that he was never really apart of anything because of Edward and Alice's doubt in him. He winked and mouthed, 'Happy Birthday.' I smiled, and nodded as a 'Thank you.'

Edward held out his hand for mine. I took it eagerly, forgetting, for a moment, my glum mood. His skin was, as always, smooth, hard, and very cold. He gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. I looked into his liquid topaz eyes, and my heart gave a not-quite-so-gentle squeeze of its own. Hearing the stutter in my heartbeats, he smiled again. I was still filled with dread, something bad was coming and it seemed to not just be my old age.

"Okay... later, then. Did you like the scrapbook your mom sent you? And the camera from Charlie?" Alice bounced up and down, excited for the opportunity to decorate something as per usual.

I sighed. Of course, she would know what my birthday presents were. Edward wasn't the only member of his family with unusual skills. Alice would have "seen" what my parents were planning as soon as they'd decided that themselves. I would not be surprised if the gift she gave me was an outfit she coordinated for tonight.

"Yeah. They're great." I pursed my lips, it wasn't that I was ungrateful for the gifts, it was their reasoning behind it that really bothered me, not every moment in history had to be documented.

"I think it's a nice idea. You're only a senior once. Might as well document the experience."

"How many times have you been a senior?" I stuck out my tongue at her, my cheekiness, however, did not go past Edward. Edward shook his head and chuckled. He ruined the moment though and turned to me with his usual 'That's not ladylike behavior,' frown. I forced a smile at Alice to show I was kidding. Alice walked a little further to give us some privacy holding Jasper's hand, he twirled her through the parking lot. Staring at them both at ease with each other, filled me envy, Edward was always so protective of me that our affection towards each other was minimal now more than ever.

He lifted his free hand and traced one cool fingertip around the outside of my lips as he spoke. "So, as discussed, I am not allowed to wish you a happy birthday, is that correct?"

"Yes. That is correct." I could never quite mimic the flow of his perfect, formal articulation. It was something that could only be picked up in an earlier century. It always made me feel even more out of place, how Edward seemed to be stuck in such another era. I hoped when I was turned I would match his level of perfection. And I supposed... if I could be sure of the future I wanted, sure that I would get to spend forever with Edward, and Alice and the rest of the Cullen's (preferably not as a wrinkled little old lady)... then a year or two one direction or the other wouldn't matter to me so much. But Edward was dead set against any future that changed me. Any future that made me like him, that made me immortal, too.

An impasse, he called it. I couldn't really see Edward's point, to be honest. What was so great about mortality? Being a vampire didn't look like such a terrible thing - not the way the Cullens did it, anyway.

"Just checking." He ran his hand through his tousled bronze hair. "You might have changed your mind. Most people seem to enjoy things like birthdays and gifts." His eyes glazed over as if he was already bored with having this conversation with me. By this time we had just caught up with Alice and Jasper, we were near the entrance to the main hall.

Alice laughed, and the sound was all silver, a wind chime. "Of course you'll enjoy it. Everyone is supposed to be nice to you today and give you your way, Bella. What's the worst that could happen?" She meant it as a rhetorical question. I looked at her, my stomach dropped. For someone who could see the future, her question, ironically enough, was just supposed to make her laugh, but the dark clouds above me held a promise of terror that was soon to be unleashed upon this town.

I shook my head and associated my feelings towards my horrible feeling as just my birthday overshadowing Edward's frozen age.

"Getting older," I answered anyway, and my voice was not as steady as I wanted it to be.

Beside me, Edward's smile tightened into a hard line.

"Eighteen isn't very old," Alice said. "Don't women usually wait till they're twenty-nine to get upset over birthdays?" Alice huffed, hoping to bring Bella aboard with her plans.

"It's older than Edward," I mumbled. He sighed. He almost let go of my hand, however, he brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of my palm. Warmth spread through me. He had barely paid any attention to me just yet, Alice still wouldn't back off the idea of a birthday party, and it seemed to be happening whether I approved of it or not.

"Technically," she said, keeping her tone light. "Just by one little year, though. What time will you be at the house?" Alice continued, changing the subject. From her expression, she was up to exactly the kind of thing I'd been hoping to avoid. Jasper sent waves of calm through me, I stuck my tongue out at him this time, which made him laugh. Edward pulled me closer, shooting Jasper a glare. I frowned. Jasper was only laughing. The smart ass comments flew from my mouth at Alice, it was my birthday after all.

"I didn't know I had plans to be there, it is my birthday after all." I let go of Edward's hand and headed through the main doors. Alice was hot on my tail.

"Oh come on Bella, please don't ruin our fun, Esme and Carlisle are so excited." Alice knew guilt tripping me, 9 times out of 10 worked but throwing in my second parents who I adored wholeheartedly? She was playing dirty for sure. I turned to look at her, I raised my eyebrows and glared. Mimicking Rosalie's face. I swear Alice was going to stomp her little feet in frustration.

Finally, Alice lost the smug smile and glared at me. "This can be easy, or this can be hard Bella, but one way or the other -" Edward interrupted her threat. "Relax, Alice. If Bella wants to relax on her birthday then she can."

"So there," I added, expecting him to follow through with making plans with me. Instead, he had said the worst thing I wanted to hear.

"I'll bring her over around seven," he continued. "That will give you more time to set up." I gaped at him. Alice began jumping up and down with excitement. She had won.

Alice's laughter chimed again. "Sounds good. See you tonight, Bella! It'll be fun, you'll see." She grinned - the wide smile exposed all her perfect, glistening teeth - then pecked me on the cheek and danced off toward her first class before I could respond.

I was never more pissed at Edward then I was in this moment of time. How dare he undermine me like that? Did I really not get a say in what I was doing for _my_ birthday?

"Edward, please -" I started to say in a firm tone. He pressed a finger to my lips, silencing me, blowing his sweet breath across my face, it stunned me for a moment and I briefly forgot what we were talking about.

"Let's discuss it later. We're going to be late for class." He grabbed my hand and led me further down the hall.

I was stunned at his blatant lack of respect for me. He wasn't usually this forceful or crabby. I turned and as we sat down, I threw my bag on the ground. Mike, who was sitting a chair to my right, huffed and whispered to Eric, 'couples spat, for sure,' as he handed Eric 10 bucks. Great. So I was nothing more than a bet to these people? Mike had changed over the summer, his face had lost some of the roundness, making his cheekbones more prominent, and he was wearing his pale blond hair a new way; instead of bristly, it was longer and gelled into a carefully casual disarray. It was easy to see where his inspiration came from - but Edward's look wasn't something that could be achieved through imitation. I snorted, it did actually make me laugh how desperate Mike seemed, but then it made me sad. It reminded me of Jacob, and our last conversation at Prom had not gone down well, thanks to Edward.

I sighed loudly and Edward pulled my chair closer to him. It seemed like today was the day people were willing to pick a fight with me. Jessica and Lauren were at the back of the room, to our right, just further than Mike and Eric, they were passing notes back and forth. Edward was smiling, I turned to him, and he was staring at Jessica. Her thoughts must have been extra stupid today. I pushed the feeling of insecurity away, after all, she had been here for years prior and Edward had not even noticed her before I arrived.

He chose me.

As the day progressed, I considered ways to get out of whatever was going down at the Cullen house tonight. Could I sneak away to the reservation and see Jacob? Alice always caught me though. It would be bad enough to have to celebrate when I was in the mood to mourn. But, worse than that, this was sure to involve attention and gifts. Attention is never a good thing, as any other accident-prone klutz would agree. No one wants a spotlight when they're likely to fall on their face and it was as if Edward enjoyed making me uncomfortable to make sure I documented the important moments. I especially was always made uncomfortable in their house whenever gifts were involved, because I'd never had much money, and that had never bothered me. Renee had raised me on a kindergarten teacher's salary. Charlie wasn't getting rich with his job, either—he was the police chief here in the tiny town of Forks. My only personal income came from the three days a week I worked at the local sporting goods store. In a town this small, I was lucky to have a job. Every penny I made went into my microscopic college fund. Something Edward was always insisting on paying for, just because he had more than enough money.

Edward had a lot of money—I didn't even want to think about how much. Money meant next to nothing to Edward or the rest of the Cullens. It was just something that accumulated when you had unlimited time on your hands and a sister who had an uncanny ability to predict trends in the stock market. Edward didn't seem to understand why I objected to him spending money on me, why it made me uncomfortable if he took me to an expensive restaurant in Seattle, why he wasn't allowed to buy me a car that could reach speeds over fifty-five miles an hour, or why I wouldn't let him pay my college intuition. He was always putting his needs, thoughts and wants before my own. I did not realize it much before, but today especially, it was brought to my attention.

The afternoon passed quickly. School ended and Edward walked me to my truck as he usually did. But this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have been taking his car home so that he could keep me from making a run for it. Another example of his possessive behavior. Did Jasper notice? Is that why he keeps to the outskirts? Was he trying to help me?

I folded my arms and made no move to get out of the rain. "It's my birthday, don't I get to drive?" And as per usual Edward had a smart ass comment ready.

"I'm pretending it's not your birthday, just as you wished." He grinned, walking me to the passenger side of my car. I usually did not argue with Edward because I never felt the need to argue, but I wasn't going to be pushed around as much anymore. I was beginning to get sick of it.

"If it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to your house tonight..." I stopped and folded my arms across my chest. I was going to be firm this time. He opened the car door and lifted me into the seat like a child.

"All right then. Happy Birthday," he said, kissing me long and hard.

My heart began to race quickly. The kiss was unexpected, he usually asked beforehand. I pulled him closer, my fingers wrapped in his jacket, his scent was overwhelming me. It made me dizzy, in a good way. He pulled away all too soon before I could run my hands through his hair. His eyes were black, he was holding his breath. I forgot that after all our time together my blood was still an issue for him.

I sat down on the passenger seat and sent him a look of 'Sorry'. Edward had drawn many careful lines for our physical relationship, with the intent being to keep me alive. Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skin and his razor-sharp, venom-coated teeth, I tended to forget about trivial things like that when he was kissing me.

Edward played with the radio while I drove, shaking his head in disapproval. He was constantly chopping and changing between radio stations, knowing full well it irritated me. It was my car, my stereo, and my music. He knew my rules about changing my steer.

"Your radio has horrible reception." I frowned. I didn't like it when he picked on my truck. The truck was great—it had personality. Plus Charlie had given it to me as a gift for when I got here. Despite how I felt about gifts, it had sentimental value to me. Not everything had to be brand spanking new.

"You want a nice stereo? Drive your own car." My snarky comment had him frowning, he knew I would be safe in a Volvo, but I would rather drop dead than have a car suitable for a grandmother. I shuddered as I remembered my dream, my old face covered in wrinkles, it terrified me. I was so nervous about Alice's plans that the words came out sharper than I'd meant them. I was hardly ever bad-tempered with Edward, and my tone made him press his lips together to keep from smiling. As we were nearly at my house, the clouds above us were overbearing, the sun could not be seen at all. Dark and gloomy just like the mood Edward and Alice had put me in.

He pulled into my driveway, the car screeching to a halt—the old guy was struggling to keep up with Edward's need for speed. It was ridiculous really. For someone who had some much time on their hands, they had little patience when things weren't going their way. It seems like some things never change, he was still that 17-year-old, rather than the 109-year-old he should be.

"Be in a good mood, please. It's been years since my family has ever had anything decent to celebrate." His tone held a sense of dominance, and he sounded impatient. He had started this attitude towards me ever since I had been in the hospital. It was starting to rub me the wrong way, I should be able to speak my mind and make my own decisions

"And if I don't want to be in a good mood?" I asked, my breathing uneven as I had only just taken off my seat belt, I wasn't actually out of the car yet so I wasn't sure how he was going to react. He leaned closer towards me, his mouth in a small smirk. My head was already spinning by the time he leaned even closer and pressed his icy lips against mine. As he intended, no doubt, I forgot all about my worries and concentrated on remembering how to inhale and exhale. I leaned my head against his. He knew he got me every time he kissed me like that.

"Too bad," he said as his golden eyes smoldered. His mouth lingered on mine, cold and smooth and gentle until I wrapped my arms around his neck and threw myself into the kiss with a little too much enthusiasm. I could feel his lips curve upward as he let go of my face and reached back to unlock my grip on him. He always did that every time we kissed. He would lead me on for a few minutes only to stop me whenever he was overwhelmed.

I blushed in disappointment. I leaned back into the passenger seat and sighed. I grabbed my bag from the back and opened the door. The fresh air was refreshing since the suddenly too hot car made me feel stuffy. My bag was heavier than I thought. I opened it and realized that I forgot to get Edward to give the gift that Alice gave me back. Damn it. My phone vibrated suddenly. Speak of the she-devil and she shall appear.

Edward was at the front door by the time I got my phone out to see her message.

 **Wear it tonight, with your black pumps, keep your hair down and put on some make-up, it's going to look so nice. -Alice xoxo**

I scoffed. My guess earlier had been right and as for those death traps, ugh. I hid those in the back of my closet for a reason. I should have thrown them out, or, better yet, set them on fire. But knowing Alice, a new pair would be back where they were, so I shouldn't bother.

I grabbed my keys and Edward grabbed them from my hand, opening the front door for me. Really? Am I that incompetent? I snorted and he raised an eyebrow at me. I smiled, I was tired of arguing with him for now.

"Thank you." I put my bag down near the entrance and headed for the kitchen. I grabbed a glass of water and started making a quick peanut butter and jam sandwich. I had no doubt that Alice was going to have heaps of food prepared, regardless as to whether or not anyone else was going to consume it. Plus, Charlie was going to be home soon and he would like to spend some quality time with me before I left for a few hours.

"You're welcome, Bella." Edward followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Seeing him scrunch his nose at the old chairs always made me feel like my house, family and myself were always going to be inadequate to his set of high standards. He wasn't usually so snobby towards my house. I thought it was cozy and it just needed more of a woman's touch.

I looked around the kitchen, the cupboards were still a faint yellow from when my mother, Renee, had painted them 17 years prior to lighten the house up. The old wooden bench top had a unique, antique quality to it and I loved that in this house. To me, it was home.

Maybe I would spend a few weekends with Esme and design a better plan for this house. She would love to do a project with me and I am sure Charlie would not mind, in fact, I think he would encourage it. He has a small crush on Esme, so he would say yes to anything. She loved that he got all flustered around her when she invites us over for dinner or drops off leftovers. She finds him so endearing and it always made me giggle. Plus my dad was lonely, some attention would be good and it's not like Carlisle would think anything would happen, he's been fishing with Charlie ever since they 'moved' to town 3 years ago, so they're friends. Charlie would never do that to Carlisle, either.

My musings were cut short by Edward waving a hand across my face. I put the crust of bread down, slowly chewing it. I looked at him and he laughed. He pulled me into a hug, inhaling the familiar scent of my hair.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. I didn't really want to tell him. He seemed to always get in a terrible mood when I tell him the truth. So, I turned to my next issue with him, tonight.

"Tonight. I don't really want to go," I answered, keeping it short and blank. He was about to argue, but then he let it go.

"Moot point," he reminded me. Abruptly, he pulled himself up into a more formal posture, shifting me to the side so that we were no longer touching. He knew Charlie did not like Edward being so affectionate with me in his presence, but I thought sometimes he used it as his excuse not to touch me.

"Charlie?" I guessed. Edward smiled.

After a moment, I heard the sound of the police cruiser pulling into the driveway. I reached out and took his hand firmly. My dad could deal with that much. As per usual and as I predicted, Charlie hung up his gun and came into the kitchen with a pizza box in his hands.

"Hey, kids." He grinned at me. "I thought you'd like a break from cooking and washing dishes for your birthday. Hungry?" I looked at the boxes and thought why not. The less food Esme would make for me tonight if I had already eaten.

"Sure. Thanks, Dad." I grabbed three plates from the cupboard near the sink and I grabbed a few slices. Charlie didn't comment on Edward's apparent lack of appetite. He was used to Edward passing on dinner.

"Do you mind if I borrow Bella for the evening?" Edward asked when Charlie and I were done eating 30 minutes later.

I looked at Charlie hopefully. Maybe he had some concept of birthdays as stay-at-home, family affairs, this was my first birthday with him, the first birthday since my mom, Renee, had remarried and gone to live in Florida, so I didn't know what he would expect.

"That's fine. The Mariners are playing The Sox tonight," Charlie explained, and my hope disappeared. "So I won't be any kind of company. Here." He scooped up the camera he'd gotten me on Renee's suggestion because I would need pictures to fill up my scrapbook and threw it to me.

"Hey, say hi to Alice for me. She hasn't been over in a while." Charlie's mouth pulled down at one corner.

"It's been three days, Dad," I reminded him. Charlie was crazy about Alice. He'd become attached last spring when she'd helped me through my awkward convalescence; Charlie would be forever grateful to her for saving him from the horror of an almost-adult daughter who needed help showering. "I'll tell her." I remained blushing as the first night I came home and attempted to ask Charlie to help me once I realized I couldn't use my full right arm to help nor my left leg due to it being broken in three places.

"Okay. You kids have fun tonight." It was clearly a dismissal. Charlie grabbed the remote and switched the TV on and I knew at this point there was no evading the party now. Edward smirked as he looked at my face.

I headed upstairs to change into the outfit Alice organized and I followed her instructions and I did have to admit I did look good. The green dress sat just above my knees, the heels made my legs seem to go on for miles. It was tight around the chest and waist. It was cute and not in the over the top way. Classy. Which is what I would have picked. But there was one issue, the weather was freezing and my puffy parka would not cut it for sure. Alice would have a heart attack at the sight. I put on a pair of stockings and found a brand new black and woolen cardigan. Perfect. My hair flowed down my back in nice, neat curls and I only wore minimal makeup; mascara, eyeliner and a bit of ChapStick. My doe-like eyes looked wider, more feminine. I actually loved the way I looked, and it had been a long time since I felt that way.

I met Edward downstairs and he looked me up and down, making me blush. He grinned taking my hand, walking me out of the front door. Okay, maybe Alice was right. Edward seemed to notice me more than he did this morning.

When we got to the truck, he opened the passenger door for me again and this time I didn't argue. I still had a hard time finding the obscure turnoff to his house in the dark. Edward drove north through Forks, visibly chafing at the speed limit enforced by my prehistoric Chevy. The engine groaned even louder than usual as he pushed it over fifty.

"Take it easy," I warned him.

I knew he would break my truck and make it look like an accident just so he could buy me a new car. I wasn't having any of his crap about my car today, considering it had lasted me a long time. Maybe I could ask Rosalie to have a look at her? Even then the chances that she would accept were slim to none. Rosalie still could not stand me and no one will tell me why, especially Edward. He did not want me to be exposed to the dangers of their world. As if it would make me less of a woman to be educated. Further yet showing just how far back in time he was. Actually, the feeling was a little bit stronger than just dislike. As far as Rosalie was concerned, I was an unwelcome intruder into her family's secret life. I shoo that off as Edward was still trying to push the speed limit of my truck.

"You know what you would love? A nice little Audi coupe. Very quiet, lots of power." Edward bounced up and down with what I thought was frustration, but with his tone, it seemed as if he was still annoyed with me.

"There's nothing wrong with my truck. And speaking of expensive non-essentials, if you know what's good for you, you didn't spend any money on birthday presents." I had warned him earlier on our way back, that I would not be taking anything home with me.

"Not a dime," he said virtuously. "But that doesn't mean the others would have followed through, Esme would never want anyone to be rude." He smirked, he had evaded the main rule I had given him. He knew I would have felt horribly guilty about the present situation, however, I enjoyed the gifts Emmett gave. He was in many ways just like the big brother I'd always wanted... only much, much more terrifying.

We were pulling up to the house now. Bright lights shined from every window on the first two floors. A long line of glowing Japanese lanterns hung from the porch eaves, reflecting a soft radiance on the huge cedars that surrounded the house. Big bowls of flowers, pink roses, were lined up along the banisters, towards their basement.

I moaned. I knew letting Alice do all this was crazy, but I never thought it would be THIS crazy. Edward took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"This is a party," he reminded me. "Try to be a good sport." He grabbed my hand as we headed down the basement stairs. I needed to hold his hand in order to stay upright in these heels, I was sure I was going to break an ankle. The feeling I had in my gut earlier had resurfaced. I knew this was going to be a bad idea.

"Sure," I muttered. I grabbed the camera from my bag and turned to him, with a serious expression on my face. Today has been full of drama and I missed his laugh. "I have a question." He waited warily. "If I develop this film," I said, toying with the camera in my hands, "will you show up in the picture?" Booming laughter could be heard the more we made it into the basement and Edward laughed harder than ever.

He loved that I still asked him about the clichés of their kind. Before we went down to see everyone we passed a new painting that was hung near Carlisle's office. I stopped to stare at it. It captivated me.

"Ah, Carlisle's adventures with the Volturi. This was painted in the 17th Century by an artist name Francesco Solomona." Edward stood behind me, looking at the painting as if he had seen it a hundred times before. "He was a famous painter, who Aro had hired because he was the only one who could capture our transcendent beauty." Edward began walking away but I could not keep my eyes off of the figure sitting beside the blonde. His features wore the expression of boredom. His bright red eyes glowed almost. He had long hair and his face, whilst it wasn't as handsome as Edward's youthful one, it did not deter me away. He was handsome. My heart began to race and Edward pulling on my hand distracted me from the painting for a brief moment. It was one of the most vivid, most wildly colorful canvas I had ever seen, it took up most of his wall.

"What's a Volturi? Who's Aro?" I asked. I was more than curious now that Edward looked bored. Served him right for not telling me the whole truth.

"The Volturi is more of a who than a what. They're a very old, very powerful coven of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America. Like I said. The trio, two black-haired, one snow white are formally known as Master Aro, Master Caius, and Master Marcus." Hmm, Marcus was his name. I looked away and Edward looked more than ready to get the night over with, so I walked away from the painting. I could not shake the image of Marcus's face from my mind.

They were all waiting in the huge white living room, it was the third in the house, down in the basement, and when I walked through the door they greeted me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!" while I blushed and looked down.

Alice, I assumed, had covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There was a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents. It was a hundred times worse than I'd imagined.

Esme saw my face and pulled me into a hug, her soft, caramel-colored hair brushing against my cheek as she kissed my forehead and then Carlisle put his arm around my shoulders. Both had always felt like the parents I should have had. Don't get me wrong, I love Renee and Charlie, but Esme and Carlisle have always made me feel like their daughter.

"I would apologize for all of this Bella, but Alice is harder to reign in than you think." Carlisle laughed and kissed my forehead as well.

"I can imagine." I chuckled a little. The queasiness in my stomach didn't go away.

Emmett and Rosalie were further behind them. Rosalie didn't smile, but at least she didn't glare. Emmett's face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since I'd seen them; I'd forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was, it almost hurt to look at her. And had Emmett always been so huge? Damn. They were a striking pair.

"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always, whilst checking me out! Pfft, you should know better Bella, I'm unavailable." I blushed deeper and laughed. He was always doing that to me.

"Ew, I was not. But whatever helps you sleep at night." I winked at Emmett as Jasper laughed behind me and I also slapped Emmett's broad shoulder. I missed his cheekiness, he was a riot. Rosalie's frown deepened, she knew I was only joking with Emmett and she still didn't like me.

"I have to step out for a second," he laughed and then paused to wink conspicuously at Alice. "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone." Emmett walked out of the door as Alice let go of Jasper's hand and skipped forward, all her teeth sparkling in the bright light. Jasper smiled, too, but kept his distance. He leaned, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs.

During the days we'd had to spend cooped up together in Phoenix, I'd thought he'd gotten over his aversion to me. But he'd gone back to exactly how he'd acted before, avoiding me as much as possible. I knew it wasn't personal, just a precaution, and I tried not to be overly sensitive about it. Jasper had more trouble sticking to the Cullens' diet than the rest of them. The scent of human blood was much harder for him to resist than the others, but something did not sit right with me.

Alice and Edward shared a look as the future must have changed. I was hoping Alice and Edward weren't petty enough to ban Jasper from spending time with me.

"Time to open presents! I know you said you did not want any, but before you say anything, we obviously did not listen," Alice declared. She put her cool hand under my elbow and towed me to the table with the cake and the shiny packages. I put on my best martyr face. "Open it." She took the camera from my hands and replaced it with a big, square silver box.

The box was so light that it felt empty. The tag on top said that it was from Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper. Self-consciously, I tore the paper off and then stared at the box it concealed. It was something electrical, with lots of numbers in the name. I opened the box, hoping for further illumination. But the box was empty. I shook it and laughed.

"Um... thanks." Rosalie actually cracked a smile at me.

"It's a stereo for your truck," Jasper laughed as he explained. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it." He slid his hands into his jean pockets, he was calm, suave even. I could tell tonight was a good night for him to be around me, even if the family were all present.

"Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie," I told them, grinning as I remembered Edward's complaints about my radio this afternoon, all a setup, apparently. "Thanks, Emmett!" I called more loudly. Alice was always seemed to be one step ahead of me. I heard his booming laugh from my truck, and I couldn't help laughing, too.

"Open mine and Edward's next," Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand.

"You promised." I turned to give Edward the biggest death glare. He said in the car he did not get me anything. Before he could answer, Emmett bounded through the door

"Just in time!" he crowed. He pushed in behind Jasper, who had also drifted closer than usual to get a good look.

"I didn't spend a dime," Edward assured me. He brushed a strand of hair from my face, leaving my skin tingling from his touch.

"Give it to me," I sighed. I inhaled deeply and turned to Alice. Emmett chuckled with delight. I took the little package, rolling my eyes at Edward while I stuck my finger under the edge of the paper and jerked it under the tape. The wrapping was indeed beautiful and if I was going to document everything I could cut a frame for it, when I print out the photos, keeping it as a small reminder.

"Shoot," I muttered when the paper sliced my finger; I pulled it out to examine the damage. A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut. I looked around the room and it all happened way too fast.

"No!" Edward roared. He threw himself at me, flinging me back across the table. It fell, as I did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers, and the plates. I landed in the mess of shattered crystals.

Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide. Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steel grip, but Jasper struggled on, his wild, empty eyes focused only on me.

Beyond the shock, there was also pain. I'd tumbled down to the floor by the piano, with my arms thrown out instinctively to catch my fall, into the jagged shards of glass. Only now did I feel the searing, stinging pain that ran from my wrist to the crease inside my elbow. Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm, into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires. Blood was everywhere.

"Emmett, Rose, get Jasper outside." Carlisle seemed not to be the only one that was calm. Centuries of experience in the emergency room were evident in his quiet, authoritative voice. It was going to be okay, everyone was going to be okay.

"Come on, Jasper." Emmett nodded. Jasper struggled against Emmett's unbreakable grasp, twisting around, reaching toward his brother with his bared teeth, his eyes still past reason. Edward's face was whiter than bone as he wheeled to crouch over me, taking a clearly defensive position. A low warning growl slid from between his clenched teeth. I could tell that he wasn't breathing.

Rosalie, her divine face strangely smug, stepped in front of Jasper, keeping a careful distance from his teeth and helped Emmett wrestle him through the glass door that Esme held open, one hand pressed over her mouth and nose. Esme's heart-shaped face was ashamed.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," she cried as she followed the others into the yard.

"Let me by, Edward," Carlisle murmured. A second passed and then Edward nodded slowly and relaxed his stance. Carlisle knelt beside me, leaning close to examine my arm. I could feel the shock frozen on my face and I tried to compose it. I felt so ashamed that I had brought this one their family, but I was the one who said not to throw a party at all. My head was pounding as I tried to breathe in the scent of salt and rust from the blood, it always made me sick.

"Here, Carlisle," Alice said, handing him a towel.

He shook his head. "Too much glass in the wound." He reached over and ripped a long, thin scrap from the bottom of the white tablecloth. He twisted it around my arm above the elbow to form a tourniquet. The smell of the blood was making me dizzy. My ears rang.

"Bella," Carlisle said softly. "Do you want me to drive you to the hospital, or would you like me to take care of it here?"

"Here, please," I whispered. "If you take me to the hospital, there would be no way to keep this from Charlie. So it's safer for us all." My words were slurred as I tried not to pass out. If Edward hadn't thrown me into the plates I would not have been bleeding so much.

"I'll get your bag," Alice said.

"Let's take her to the kitchen table," Carlisle said to Edward. Edward lifted me effortlessly, while Carlisle kept the pressure steady on my arm.

"How are you doing, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm fine." My voice was becoming reasonably steady, which pleased me.

Edward's face was like stone. Alice was there. Carlisle's black bag was already on the table, a small but brilliant desk light plugged into the wall. Edward sat me gently into a chair and Carlisle pulled up another. He went to work at once. Edward stood over me, still protective, still not breathing. I was thinking he should have Esme build a small hospital on the property, god knows I would need it and Emmett would get a kick out of it.

"Just go, Edward," I sighed. He didn't have to be the martyr, we all knew how well his control was. "You don't need to be a hero," I said. "Carlisle can fix me up without your help. Get some fresh air." I winced as Carlisle did something to my arm that stung.

"I can handle it," he insisted. But his jaw was rigid; his eyes burned with the intensity of the thirst he fought, so much worse for him than it was for the others. "I'll stay," he said and it seemed as if his word was final.

"Edward, you may as well go find Jasper before he gets too far. I'm sure he's upset with himself and I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now." Carlisle decided it was time to intercept their argument. As the leader of their coven, it was his last word that seemed to have the last say.

"Yes," I eagerly agreed. "Go find Jasper." I really just wanted one moment where I did not have the eyes of a hunter staring at me. I wanted Edward back. Edward's eyes narrowed as we ganged up on him, but finally, he nodded once and sprinted smoothly through the kitchen's back door.

I was sure he hadn't taken a breath since I'd sliced my finger. A numb, dead feeling was spreading through my arm. Though it erased the sting, it reminded me of the gash and I watched Carlisle's face carefully to distract me from what his hands were doing. His hair gleamed gold in the bright light as he bent over my arm. I could feel the faint stirrings of unease in the pit of my stomach, but I was determined not to let my usual squeamishness get the best of me. There was no pain now, just a gentle tugging sensation that I tried to ignore. No reason to get sick like a baby. If she hadn't been in my line of sight, I wouldn't have noticed Alice give up and steal out of the room. With a tiny, apologetic smile on her lips, she disappeared through the kitchen doorway. This must have been why my stomach felt terrible all night, it had not left me yet but I must have known something bad was going to happen.

"Well, that's everyone," I sighed. "I can clear a room, at least."

"It's not your fault, and don't bother it'll be much quicker for us to clear it." Carlisle comforted me with a chuckle. "It could happen to anyone."

"Could," I repeated. "But it usually just happens to me."

He laughed again. I couldn't find any trace of anxiety on his face. He worked with quick, sure movements. The only sound besides our quiet breathing was the soft plonk, plonk as the tiny fragments of glass dropped one by one to the table.

"How can you do this?" I asked, "Even Alice and Esme..." I trailed off, shaking my head in wonder. Though the rest of them had given up the traditional diet of vampires just as absolutely as Carlisle had, he was the only one who could bear the smell of my blood without suffering from the intense temptation. Clearly, this was much more difficult than he made it seem.

"Years and years of practice," he told me. "I barely notice the scent anymore." His relaxed calm was only more amazing set in direct contrast to everyone else's reaction.

"Do you think it would be harder if you took a vacation from the hospital for a long time and weren't around any blood?" I was very curious as to why he truly became a doctor, Edward mentioned it briefly.

"Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders, but his hands remained steady. "I've never felt the need for an extended holiday." He flashed a brilliant smile in my direction. "I enjoy my work too much." I knew he enjoyed his job, but I thought he would need a break regardless. He was the only one that was truly closest to his humanity that I indeed did forget sometimes that he was immortal. I was surprised at how much glass there seemed to be in my arm. I was tempted to glance at the growing pile, just to check the size, but I knew that idea would not be helpful to my no-vomiting strategy. He finally stopped and started bandaging the wound. He was almost if not already finished.

"Thank you, Carlisle. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for you. My tombstone would read, _Bella Swan, died of clumsiness_ , rather than old age." Carlisle laughed hard and put my face in his hands. He kisses my forehead and turned away from me. Burning the remnants of the blood and glass in a bowl.

"Thank you, Bella." I looked at Carlisle strangely. Before I could ask he starting elaborating. "You've never not once judged us for being who we are, let alone what we are. You make me think there's a chance our souls won't end up damned in hell for eternity." The look on Carlisle's face brought tears to my eyes. He thought he out of all people would end up in hell?

"Carlisle, there's no way you could be damned. That's not possible at all. Look at the life you've led, you're a vampire doctor. How many of those exist? Day in and day out over 300 years of your life, you've always put others above yourself and you've never given in to your urges. If heaven does exist, the pearly gates would welcome you with open arms. Don't doubt that." I was so emotional by the time Edward walked back into the room. Carlisle looked like he would cry if he could. He hugged me again. His face full of relief. I always had faith in Carlisle. Edward looked at my bandage and he was handed a bottle of pills that I would need overnight. He had my bag in his hands which was his sign that I was leaving. I bid farewell to Carlisle and slipped my shoes off, I headed out into the main foyer.

"Bye guys, I'm sorry," I shouted out so everyone would hear me. Edward was still holding his breath as we exited, his eyes were a bright gold. He must have quickly hunted. It was refreshing to see their yellow color instead of the dark pitch black they had been earlier. He looked more like my Edward.

It was about 9:30 p.m. by the time I got home. I was practically falling asleep in the car. Edward carried me through the door and up to bed. He kissed my forehead and bid me goodnight but I knew he would be there in the morning when I awoke. We had a lot to talk about, for sure. As far as Charlie was concerned, I was in bed alone. My eyes refused to stay open and I finally succumbed to the darkness.

 **Let me know what you guys think. : )**


	2. Chapter 2: Nightmares

**Summary:** _"His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."  
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 **Rating:** Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution. This chapter contains attempted rape YOU'VE BEEN WARNED if it makes you feel uncomfortable, please don't read it and skip to the next chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing, except for the story line! **  
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**A/N: Welcome, I am so sorry for all the kerfuffle. I promise you I'll continue this** **story once I am happy with these last few chapters. I have added much more of a story line to these chapters as well as heaps more detail. I am so proud of my self. Thank you all for the nice reviews and thank you Avon, you're awesome.**

 **CHAPTER 2: NIGHTMARES, GOODBYES AND AWKWARD INTRODUCTIONS**

 **(Bella's POV)**

I was drifting in and out sleep the next night. In my groggy haze, my dreams were filled of nightmares of what happened after I sliced open my finger. Jasper's face, bite marks that I usually couldn't see where present. His fangs, over extended, his eyes as jet black as could be, and his face was slowly morphing though, his blonde locks getting shorter, the colour slowly diluted to auburn locks, springing up in every direction. Jasper's face had morphed into Edward. Fear and nausea rolled through me, could Emmett and Rose hold back Edward? Was I ever truly safe? I awoke from my slumber a few hours later, I had explained to Charlie when he noticed I hadn't come out of my room yet, so he decided to check up on me, that I was too sick to go into the first few lessons of school. I wanted a few more hours to ponder about yesterday's dramatic events. The stitches in my forearm were beginning to pull a little whenever I rolled over. I sighed, a glass of water and the bottle of Tylenol was sitting on my bedside table, and it was a beacon of hope to ease the throbbing. My stomach still had the uneasy feeling but worse, cramps were slowly bubbling.

Oh crap, I thought it was next week? I rose quickly, stumbling in the dark hallway to the bathroom. I immediately pulled my pants down and sat on the toilet. Damn it, my period had come early. I did not look down, seeing blood two days in a row was sure to make me pass out. I immediately scrunched up face towards the harshness of the bright light in the bathroom, it made me feel as if I was in a hospital bathroom, everything plain, white and smelled sanitary. It made sense as to why I was so emotional last night with my period coming early and all. I quickly undressed, relishing in the thought of a hot shower, the bitterness of the wind in this rainy town always took my breath away. It was not something you got used to after having spent most of my life living in the hot, Phoenix sun, which was something I missed, when fork's had it's rare sunny day. I quickly wrapped the bandage in cling wrap, to protect it from water damage. I finally stepped into the shower, sighing as the water started to warm up my toes, before I submerged my whole body under.

The hot water blasted on my skin, soothed the chill I always seem to have in my bones when it came to living in Forks. It reminded me of home, and that was ironic really. As I was in love with somebody as colder than ice and I was living in the wettest place in the continental U.S. I leant my head under the water, letting it roll down my face. The old pipes began to rattle a little. The hot water would run out soon. I looked at my favorite strawberry flavoured shampoo and got to work on cleaning and conditioning my hair as quick as possible. Stepping out of the shower after I was done with my usual personal maintenance of shaving and using my favourite coffee and sugar body scrub. Which made my skin tingle and wake up more alive than ever. Thank you Angela for sharing that one. As I made my way back into the room, the clock read 10:30 a.m. Edward was not sitting in the rocking chair, I knew for sure because the window I had opened earlier was completely shut. Which was odd for sure, it was never really closed. Did he not stay the night last night?

Maybe he was planning on making up for last night? Even though I told him not to get me gifts, a selfless picnic and time away from everybody in our Meadow sounded like absolute heaven and it did not cost a single penny, well except for food but it was nothing compared to a new car, like a Porsche. I always enjoyed those days, the sun would come out and shine across Edward's face and the nape of his neck. The way his skin looked like diamonds embedded in marble stone, always made me feel in awe. He captivated me. We always laid there, talking, touching, and it was the rare times where Edward was more or less 100% comfortable with me.

I made my way down the stairs, to grab a bowl of cereal after dressing in the usual, a black long sleeve top, some tight fitted dark jeans, and my converses as well. I eyed Charlie's woolen, black, knitted jumper, with the re-attachable hood. It was his favourite hoody and right now I needed some form of courage. I left my hair down, and grabbed my beanie. The rain was slowly coming in and I knew if I didn't leave right now, I would end up looking even worse for wear. I grabbed my bag and keys, quickly running to my car, luckily enough Charlie had, had the front driveway redone so the concrete under my feet, wasn't the enemy anymore, and the crunchy gravel was. I opened the door and huddle myself in the front of my Chevy. I turned the keys in the ignition quickly, the heat thrumming into the car, made the engine backfire, her usual spout of black smoke, smelled even viler. Was it signifying something darker was to come? If so, the clouds were still already doing a good enough job, the weather report on the radio had said it was reaching up to 90 kilometer winds, and heavy storms. I made it to the car park in record time, and there Edward was, like he had been the day before, sitting on the hood of his Volvo, however he his expression was smooth, almost lifeless. I pulled in next to Edward, and he opened the car door, helping me out. He smiled, but the firmness in his jaw, indicated that something was wrong. But what? I could not work it out. I understood why he would be angry about last night, but I wasn't sure if avoiding the subject was going to make the situation worse or better.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Looking me up and down, eyeing my jacket with a bit of disgust. He hated it when I dressed more tomboy. However, today was not the day to mess with me. I was enraged with hormones and everything was going to set me off. I should have told Charlie it was girly needs and he would have clammed up, blushed and left the room, leaving me with the answer I wanted- a day off from school, so I could avoid having this conversation with Edward until later.

"Peachy." I lied between my teeth as he slammed the driver door shut behind me. We walked into school, not saying a word to each other, he shortened his long stride to match with my short one. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask Alice, but she was nowhere to be seen. How was Jasper? Was everyone okay? What could Alice see happening next? Would she tell me why Edward seemed to be so depressed?

The morning passed slowly, Edward remained aloof during most of our lessons, only ever asking me if I need anything for my arm, and how I was. I was the one Alice usually had to wait for in the cafeteria, at our table but today, she was nowhere to be seen. I turned to Edward, I frowned, I was starting to get really worried, she never usually missed school unless it was sunny, or there was a sudden shopping spree. Or her class was running late, until I saw Angela and Ben who were in her fourth period, French class.

"Where's Alice?" I asked Edward anxiously, playing with the hem of my sleeve, wiping the bottle cap of my lemonade on my jeans.

"She had to leave with Jasper for a while." He crushed his granola bar into dust, as if he did not care as to where they were. I could not believe what I was hearing. _They left? What?_

"Where did they go? For how long?" I was shocked to hear this, I never thought Alice and Jasper would have to leave. But of course, if Jasper had to go, Alice had to follow. They were mates, just like I would if Edward ever had to.

"She was trying to convince him that he had to stay with the Denali's for a while." The Denali's were a band of unique good vampires that followed the same diet that Carlisle had adopted under his wing many years ago. Tanya, Irina and Kate Denali, lived with Eleazar and Carmen. I had heard of them only three times and those moments were brief. Once when Edward had to run there to escape the difficult arrival of me, when Carlisle had asked for them to help out with the Nomad situation and when Laurent, the most civilized members of James's coven had gone there rather than to side with his own coven. I felt so guilty, a lump was forming in my throat, and I had run the two of them out of their home just like I had with Rosalie and Emmett, with the James's scenario.

By the end of the day, the silence between us was becoming comical. Me, being as stubborn as I am, I refused to break it even for a tiny moment, but it seemed to be my only choice if I ever wanted him to speak to me again. Was he really that upset? After all, what happened last night was nothing in comparison to what James had done to me in that ballet studio, he had left me broken and nearly beaten to death as well as all the blood I lost. Last night was a tiny paper cut, he only made it worse. Was it because Jasper was a brother and not the enemy that he and to protect me from? We jumped into Edward's car as mine sadly was refusing to start. Edward had driven almost like a mad man, to get me home, usually he drove slowly. He did view me as fragile. He walked me up to the door and Edward turned to me and kissed my forehead, bidding me goodbye, he quickly mumbled something about hunting and that he wouldn't be back until later tonight. I was left stunned outside the front of my front door. My car keys hanging limp in my hand, he didn't even say goodbye properly.

I walked inside, hearing nothing but the buzzing of the fridge in the kitchen, Charlie's holster was empty. I forgot he had mentioned that he was on a night shift tonight. I spent my time washing the dishes and cleaning up the house, I vacuumed and dusted, and took out all the trash. Once I started I could not stop. I cleaned all the cupboards and did all the laundry, dried and folded them. I put them in the basket to be sorted later when I looked over at the clock it was close to 7, Edward would be here soon, hopefully.

I stomped my way up into my bedroom, the baby blue walls, from my childhood was crackling in the corners, they were in desperate need for a sand down and a fresh coat of paint. Maybe I would end up fixing the whole house this year. After all, Charlie had taken me in, and he would need a fresh start once I was gone. I threw myself down on the computer chair, pressing the button on the side of my computer to boot the old thing up. The suspense of Edward's arrival made me bite my nails. _Screw Alice, old habits die hard._ On the table in front of me, were the presents that Charlie and Renee had gotten me, I touched the scrap book and sighed, I turned the front cover open. I decided that now would be a good time to kick this gift into gear, I plugged in the camera, the scrapbook Renee had bought supplied the printing paper so I did not even need to go in to town like I would have, had an old school roll, had been used. I hooked up the printer, after it took 15 minutes for me to work out how. After the first image appeared on the computer screen I gasped aloud. Edward looked just as beautiful as he did in real life, staring at me out of the picture with the warm eyes I'd missed for the past few days. It was almost uncanny that anyone could look so… so… beyond description. No thousand words could equal this picture. I clicked through the rest of the images quickly once, and then clicked print, watching them all as the pages stacked

I picked up the picture of Edward and me standing awkwardly side by side, it was one Alice had taken before the incident. Edward's face was the same as the last, cold and statue-like. But that wasn't the most troubling part of this photograph. The contrast between the two of us was painful. He was not looking at me as he had earlier, even though I went to of all that trouble to stand out, for him. I looked at my bag on the floor and I decided that instead of doing my homework, I was going to put my pictures into the album while I waited. With a ballpoint pen I scrawled captions under all the pictures, the names and the dates. I got to the picture of Edward and I and I sighed. Finally, it was quarter to 8 by the time it was done and as crazy as it was for Alice to convince me to do this, it was worth it.

I packed up my stuff and there was a 'tap' on my window. Edward? I ran to the window and pulled back the curtain and I sighed with relief. There it was, the silver Volvo, sitting in my driveway. I was confused, Edward usually came through the window. I pushed the latch up and lifted. It wasn't normal. He was leaning against the drive side of his car. He smiled at me.

"Come for a walk with me?" He suggested in an emotionless voice. I nodded and closed the window, I grabbed Charlie's jacket, I had yet to return it to him since I borrowed it the other day. I chucked it on, pulling the hood over my head, it had begun to drizzle outside, which reminded me that a storm was coming. I chucked on my converses again and almost sprinted down stairs, I remembered to grab my keys and my phone, I wasn't sure how far we were going to walk. I slammed the front door shut, and made my way over to him. He offered me his hand, leading me behind my house, into the forest. I didn't like this. This is bad, this is very bad, the voice in my head repeated again and again. I followed unwillingly, trying to think through the panic. It was what I wanted, I reminded myself. The chance to talk it all through. So why was the panic choking me?

We'd gone only a few steps into the trees when he stopped. We were barely on the trail which was good because I could still see the house. Some walk. Edward dropped my hand and walked a little bit further in front of me, I stopped and he turned, and lent his back against the tree. It was time for our talk.

"Okay, let's talk." My voice didn't shake which was good and it sounded much more braver than it should have.

"Bella, we're leaving..." Edward spoke harshly, trying not to prolong the tirade any longer than necessary. I took a deep breath as this was an acceptable option. I thought I was prepared. I knew we had to leave town. But I still had to ask.

"By we, you mean-?" I started to say before he cut me off. The small gaping hole in my chest seemed to grow bigger as he spoke. Tears filled my eyes instantly. I tried to hold them back. I took a deep breath.

"I mean my family and myself." His words made my chest feel as if my heart was ripped from my chest. I felt used, unwanted. I couldn't breathe, after all we had survived through he was leaving me. The forefront of my emotions began to bury themselves deep inside my soul, as a hole emerged, slowly sucking the life from within my veins, darkness clouded my eyes and just before the darkness embedded itself completely, anger rose through me. All the emotions that I had buried began to bubble and rise to the surface.

"But- I-" I tried to understand what had changed. Yesterday we were fine, absolutely fine. It was just one minor accident. One. I was about to take a step closer to him, but he stopped me.

"Don't, you mean nothing to me, you were just some plaything to pass the time with, and I never wanted anything more from you." His cold tone sent shivers down my spine. My emotions took a turmoil and they were spinning out of control. I knew it, I fucking knew it. I knew this was far too good to be true. I wasn't meant to fit in with their world as I had believed. But this was not the way I wanted to end things. I was tired of him treating me this way and I had finally had enough.

"You know what?" His head cocked to the side in confusion. A bitter laugh escaped me as I couldn't help but let all my frustrations out. "Rosalie was right, so fucking right from the beginning. I don't belong with your family. Go. Leave. I am done." I turned to walk away from him and I only made it a few steps before pain shot up my spine, I had realised that he had slammed me up against the tree roughly. I gasped, the wind being knocked straight out from me. He had finally had enough of my smartass attitude towards him.

"You ungrateful bitch. After everything I have done for you... This is how you repay me? By ending it?" He snarled and slapped my face, my head snapping in the opposite direction. "NO. It was mine to end. MINE.". He was no longer the emotionless Edward. His true colours were coming to light. Tears filled my eyes as my cheek stung. "Isn't this what you wanted Bella?" His hands roamed me freely now but all I could think of was disgust. "To touch you like this?" His intoxicating breath blew across my face, blinding me. I began to struggle in his hold. He grinned.

"N-no. Stop." He didn't, his hands tore at Charlie's jumper, flinging it across the path way. He pinned my arms above me. His expression sadistic. His hand held mine, while the other held my throat. I could hear the crunching of leaves from a distance. Panic, sending my senses into full height. His mouth skimmed my throat, his teeth nipping at my skin. This wasn't what I wanted. He chuckled.

"If you scream, I'll drain the blood from you so fast and crush your vocal cords within a matter of seconds, no one will hear you…" He said in my ear as his hand on my throat squeezed tighter, evidently indicating the truth behind his words. My eyes caught something in the distance, the carving of letters in the tree from the time Jacob and I had trailed our asses to my truck, in order to get home in time for curfew. I was on the border line of territory. The outskirts to be exact. Alice wouldn't be able to see mine or Edward's future. I was utmost and utterly fucked. Edward's hand skimmed through my hair, softly, then he pulled it tight, in between his fingers. I gasped and cried out the pain searing through my back of my scalp. He pulled my head even further back, exposing my throat. my heart felt as if it was exploding through my chest.

His hand then traced down my sternum. The tips of his fingers brushing against the material of my plain bra. He pulled the bow on the middle while huffing. He grinned then and pulled the strap of my bra, the sound of the thwack it made, made me cringe and move an inch or so further from him.

"Oh poor little Bella..." He cackled. He pulled the strap again, harder even, it had me crying out but he didn't seem to care. He was drawing this out for all it was worth. He took a step back, marveling at the bruises that were forming on my skin, for which I wouldn't have been able to tell yet. He like having his mark upon me making me shudder in disgust. I decided, it was now or never. I turned and took off running, panic mode made me surprisingly graceful.

Trees were blurring around me and all I heard was sadistic laughter. I didn't stop. I kept running trying to get closer to Forks. Home. Anywhere away from him. I could hear him coming closer, toying with me. At some stage I even felt him breathing on my neck, sending shivers through me. I knew at some stage I would tire out and by any means he would catch me. I knew then that I wouldn't survive.

The grace my feet held in that moment was cut short when I didn't see the incoming tree root which blessed my foot to trip over and land face first into the ground. It knocked the air out of my lungs, seizing the sound of helplessness from my throat. His roaring laughter could be heard other than me sobbing. Hard. The tears just wouldn't stop as well as my ragged breathing pulling me closer to the darkness I felt earlier.

"P-please…Stop. Let me go." I was past the point of caring, I was willing to do and say anything for him to let me go. This wasn't the Edward I knew and loved.

He towered over me. He straddled me from behind as I struggled to get up. His hand pushed my face closer into the dirt and leaves leaving me breathless and not in the good way.

"Silly Bella… we predators go wild when we have to chase our prey… I thought you would remember that." He lifted my head up, his nose trailing along the pulse line of my neck pushing his hardened length into my backside. Emmett and Jasper had warned me of this. The territorial and almost uncontrollable urges and instincts the vampires had in their first year of life, but it seemed to have stuck with Edward, buried deep inside his charade he posed with his family. I wondered then how he could have gotten away with it, but of course, my concern turned towards the moment at present, knowing I would need internal strength and courage to survive his actions of brutality. Edward's teeth grazed at my neck, blood started to trickle ever so softly down my neck as his tongue skimmed across his mark. He rolled me over, causing the sudden movement to roll my stomach with nausea, making my head spin prolong itself.

Memories stirred to the surface of my mind of James's sadistic behavior in the ballet studio, wishing death had found me then... Wishing Edward had drained me then and there when he had found me, wishing Jasper had followed through with his urges on my birthday, so peace would find me quickly. The inevitable clouds of rain began to drizzle softly, slowly gaining speed and strength, chilling my body to the core. Edward laughed at the sight of my body turning a slight shade of blue. He nipped at my neck harder even closer to the main artery, fear emanated through my body. My teeth began to chatter, as my hair stuck to my face. I whimpered, waiting for his next move.

While his other hand pinned my small ones to the floor, he began to rip the only sense of warmth for my body: my jeans. In this position I had no way of hiding what he didn't deserve to see. The rustling of leaves behind him distracted me for a brief moment. Edward dragged his teeth more harshly along my throat, making the blood flow much more quickly than before, adding to the sick feeling in my stomach. Edward froze his ministrations quickly and I turned my head in the opposite direction only to turn my pleading gaze towards the man behind us, hoping he would take away my agony and humiliation. 'His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me.'

Edward's body was ripped from on top of me so quickly, that the relief flooding through mine had caused immediate emotional whiplash. My breathing became ragged as I turned away from the commotion slowly crawling towards an impossible escape. The dark gaping hole in my chest was alight with the embers of fire, even more so with the sting of my beloved's betrayal. The rain had forced my skin and bones to lock up as the cold finally seeped through my adrenaline rush. My vision began to darken and fade, exhaustion and pain settling into my body, sobs were trying to escape from my lungs but the effort caused me to succumb to the darkness and the last thing I felt was the softest touch of a robe covering my body…

I awoke with what felt like hours later, my body feeling as if it had been run over by a bus, and as I became more aware of my surroundings, I noticed the slight motion of somebody carrying me ever so gently. The brief movement of tilting my head up towards my saviour caused nausea to roll through my stomach, but to no avail, nothing made it past my lips, except for the gagging sound of a dry throat. As my eyes started to focus on who was carrying me, I could not believe it. _Was I in a dream?_ It was him... **Marcus Volturi** from Carlisle's painting. But he didn't look the way he used too. In the painting he was sitting on the golden throne, with a look of detachment from the reality of the world. His dark, long, hair was shorter now, a lot shorter, making his harsh jawline and cheeks look more predominant. He oozed sensuality and the pure essence of what a man is and should always be; strong. I closed my eyes as the slow strides in his steps, began to soothe me. My head was throbbing and I slowly raised my hand, wincing as it took all of the strength I had as I was clenching my jaw, to stop the tears from coming. I pulled my hand back as I hissed. The back of my skull must have been cut open, a large lump, no doubt had formed when Edward had slammed it into the tree. The strong arms that held me, tightened just a little bit. I let my hand drop to his chest, warm liquid was on my fingertips and I knew if I looked at it I would be sick.

Questions had enraged my mind, trying to resolve the underlying issue of why the Volturi would have decided to pay me such an impromptu visit, didn't they handle much more serious issues? _Had I broken any laws? Did Carlisle call them here to sort out me? Were they going to kill me?_ Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper. The thought of all of them leaving town, sent the ache in my chest into a frenzy. They were going to leave me, if they have not already done so. _Would someone had ever found me, if Edward had finished what he started?_ My body began to shook, the drizzling of rain, did not help. The thick cloak that covered me from the harshness of the wind, gave me a form of protection from it. The reminder that my saviour was still carrying me through the woods. He was staring back at me. His ruby eyes were filled with worry, and anger, the sight was unnerving to see in the flesh again. James's eyes had done the same thing right before he broke my leg. I shuddered, fear permitted my body, he inhaled the air and his eyes softened. I was his prey and never before in my life had I been more scared. _Would he kill me and drain me dry?_ I knew how the others had reacted to my blood, but he seemed to show no signs of being thirsty. His pupils were still small. He was in control of himself. My internal musing was interrupted by a male's voice coming towards us.

His voice came out of nowhere and made me jump. I buried my face into Marcus's chest and he hissed towards the male, his eyes glaring him down.

"What is it, Demetri?" Marcus, growled. Demtri took a step back, as if he did not want to impose, but he seemed to have urgent news.

"Master Marcus, I'm sorry. I know now is not the best time to be telling you this but Carlisle Cullen is demanding too see Edward." The man bowed and I peeked at him from the corner of my good eye, the other was having a hard time staying open as it was swelling up. He was much taller than I was, his dark olive skin tone suited him in contrast with his short,black hair. His eyes matched Marcus's as well as his cloak. He must have been someone who was obligated to protect Marcus. Demetri, I think that was what was Marcus had called him, was staring straight at me. I turned my head and closed my eyes, he was looking at me with disgust and pity. My heart began racing, fear was pulsing through me. Hope, was the only emotion keeping me from believing that I would be spared from the humiliation of what Edward did to me and that my suffering would end quickly. My body throbbed as my mind began to remember the feeling of his body crushing mine, his teeth slowly pressing into my neck. Fear raged through me knowing that was not the worst of what he could have done. I was shaking looking at Demetri's face, his expression turning almost murderous. My throat felt like it was closing in on itself as I began to apologise.

"I-I'm s-sorry." Marcus looked at me and stopped moving, his whole body shook with anger, but his eyes told me that it was not towards me, he was confused.

"Il mio amore, Isabella why are you apologising?"

"H-How do you know my name?" I was confused, we had no formally introduced ourselves yet. Marcus looked at me, his gaze lingering a little too long at my face.

"I will explain it when we reach the Carlisle's home, mia amore. Demetri, lead the way please." Marcus's tone was gentle, it sounded as if he was genuinely concerned with my well-being. He began moving towards the direction of the Cullen's house following Demetri's scent, I knew I'd need medical attention as soon as possible, and I was hoping I would have some answers but I was not sure I was ready to see the Cullen's. It seemed like I was not going to get a choice. My chest throbbed but the hole was not as big as it appeared to be before, my body protesting profusely which each of his strides. It could not be avoided, I could tell Marcus was trying not too prolong the pain I was in.

"I'm sorry, I am such an inconvenience." I whispered. I shuddered as Marcus growled loudly, it was almost deafening. I tensed expecting him to take his rage out on me.

"No woman deserves to suffer the way you did. Any man who does this is no man at all, he is a disgrace. You are not an inconvenience nor a liability, my anger is directed at the imbecile that touched you. All of us feel that way, they'd be stupid or insane to condone such behaviours directed at anyone." I took in his words slowly gaining an understanding that for once I was not being disrespected for being human. I was finally being respected as a person and a woman. Edward never did that, or if he did it came with a compromie to fit his needs. I relaxed, the tension leaving my bones, made me feel exhausted.

Edward would suffer and he would definitely burn, but where would I end up? We made it to the outskirts of the Cullen home, Alice was waiting on the front steps and anger rose through me. Demetri and Felix who seemed to come out of nowhere stood in front of me. Carlisle burst through the front door, looking between the state I was in and the King that was holding me in his arms.

"Marcus, what is the meaning of this? What happened? Where's Edward?" His tone was full of panic as Demetri hissed at Carlisle for his blatant disregard for Marcus's title. Esme touched Carlisle's arm gasping as she saw the bruising and blood on my face. Emmett roared coming to the conclusion of what he thought had happened to me. Rosalie slowly made her way towards me seething with rage, her eyes flashed with regret, it seemed as though she knew what had happened, or what had almost happened. Alice held onto Jasper as he felt the onslaught of emotions from everyone. Jasper began snarling, he was almost as feral as he had been days prior, but he was not controled by his thirst. He did not scare me, I knew he had been dealing with more then one vampire's blood lust.

I did however, begin to panic at the amount of males that were around me, now that I knew briefly what their strength could do to me. Marcus spoke softly in my ear, trying to calm me down, speaking in Italian.

"Calma nessuno ti avrebbe ferito, it will be alright, we won't let anyone hurt you." Marcus then turned to Carlisle, his tone was full of authority, full of power. He turn to Carlisle to address the issue. "It was brought to our attention by the Denali coven, up in Alaska, your cousins…" Marcus snickered at the human formalities the coven insisted on keeping up with. "Insisted that you had a human, well informed of our existence, with your son Edward, and that he was insisting on keeping her human." Listening to Marcus talk, brought a sense of fear through me. Carlisle looked at Marcus in confusion, he had asked his fellow family members to aid them with the manhunt for James, but he never expected them to take it a step further without consulting him first, he was the leader of his coven after all.

"As you can see here, Carlisle, we were informed your 'son' Edward is responsible for breaking two of the most sacred laws of the vampire world..." Carlisle looked at me with guilt and sadness, knowing that Marcus would never lie about something so serious. I watched as his eyes immediately began looking over my injuries from afar, I knew his Father and Doctor mode were competing to take care of his 'daughter.'

"Please, bring her inside, let me take care of what he did to her..." My mind was racing but Edward's word about them all leaving wouldn't escape my thoughts. They were all going to leave without saying goodbye. I was just betrayed by someone who was my 'soulmate,' but by a coven who I had come to call 'family.'

"No." I was in agony but nothing could have been worse in this moment, if I could stand up for myself against Edward I could do the same against them. "You were leaving me... Leaving me without taking me with you or saying goodbye. I thought we were family?" Esme stepped forward, tears that would never fall, in her eyes as she handed me water and painkillers, she had breifly disappeared through the house. Demetri took them from her hands and she flinched at his harshness towards her. He passed it to me and I grabbed it weakly with my right hand, wincing as the pills brushed along my sore throat.

I realised then, of my lack of clothing, pulling the cloak around me tighter, feeling more vulnerable and embarrassed. Emmett was tearing down trees off in the distance, trying to control his rage. Rosalie turned her head, hearing his roars, making her flinch. Rosalie finally spoke, surprisingly with a soft tone.

"Bella, I am so sorry that Edward did this to you. We wanted to say goodbye but Edward convinced us that it would be better if we didn't, we fought for hours. Please, come inside, let us help you... Edward will pay for this." Seeing her expression made me shudder, I could not imagine why Rosalie was suddenly being nice to me, but the idea of scrubbing away at my skin til it was raw, was eating away at me. I needed to clean him off my soul, skin and mind. Marcus pulled me tighter against him, reminding me that he would keep me safe.

"Isabella, I will not leave your side unless you tell me too." His tone was gentle and soothing and Rosalie's words were comforting. I nodded and the fate of Edward, for now, was left in suspense.

 **Leave a review, please. -E**


	3. Chapter 3: Rosalie's Story

**Summary:** _"His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a state of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."_

 **Rating:** Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution. The second chapter contains attempted rape YOU'VE BEEN WARNED If it makes you feel uncomfortable, please don't read it and skip to the next chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing, except for the story line!

 **A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews and welcome new followers, I'll work on my grammar and punctuation- I tend to rush my work when I am inspired to write. I'm shocked that over 13,750 people viewed my story and that I have gained so many followers so quickly. It's frigging awesome, so stay tuned- you guys inspire me.**

 **CHAPTER 3: ROSALIE'S STORY, NEW INFORMATION AND PANIC ATTACKS  
**

 **(Bella's POV)  
** Marcus carried me through the threshold of the house as Rosalie directed him to the furthest bedroom away from Edward's. I rested my head against his shoulder, feeling drowsy as the painkillers started kicking in. Memories flashed before me of what Edward and I shared in this household. The brief glimpse of his piano sent shivers down my spine as the reality of the man I fell in love with was nothing more than a facade. I buried my face in Marcus's chest, just wanting to hide myself away from my memories but they overwhelmed me. I couldn't believe how naive I was thinking that someone like Edward settle for someone like me, but he did, only for the control he had over me and his constant craving and desire for my blood, not my companionship. Every moment we had shared together, no matter how simple and intimate,was a lie and he only protected me to conserve the essence of me, the blood bag, not for the sake of being with me or loving me. Hearing his words echo through my mind; _'You mean nothing to me, you were just some play thing to pass the time with...I never wanted anything more from you.'_ I pushed the incident away from me for now feeling the gaping hole slowly re-emerging and I turned back into reality, tears were flowing down my cheeks. I could only just hear the murmur of conversation between Rosalie and Marcus and the sound of running water used to soothe me, but now it reminded me of the rain as it pelted across my skin, chilling me to the bone. I shivered involuntarily as Marcus set me down on the bed gently but he didn't leave my side for a moment like he promised until the shrill of his ringtone on his phone rang, making me jump out of my skin.

"I'm sorry Isabella, but I need to take this, Aro and Caius need an update, I will be in the bedroom as Rosalie will tend to you. I'll hear if you need me, I'll only be a moment." I nodded, resting my voice as Rosalie re-entered the bedroom turning to help carry me to the bathroom. She lifted me as if I weighed nothing slowly placing me down on the stool in the corner.

"Bella, I know this will be hard for you but I need to examine your injuries, I don't just tinker with cars I do have a medical degree of my own." My lips slowly turned upward at the word 'tinker,' knowing all to well of her expertise under the hood of a car. I took a deep breath and gradually gained enough confidence to remove the cloak Marcus gave me, shuddering as the cool air hit my skin. I looked at the mirror that covered the whole wall. My hair was matted at the back of my head where blood had flowed and dried when Edward slammed me up against the tree. My back throbbed and ached as the bruising began to darken to a purple, my neck stung as water droplets from my wet hair dripped along the minor imprints of Edward's teeth and my chest and lungs ached with every breath I took.

Embarrassment and humiliating feeling collided against each other as Rosalie began to examine, poke and prod every mark, scrape and bruise. Although Edward was never given the opportunity to follow through with the rape, I still felt dirty and worthless. _How could another man want to be with me now?_ I felt like I was a can of damaged goods. Rosalie noticed my expression but she didn't look at me with pity. She looked at me with determination. She slowly placed stitches in the cut on my forehead, she wiped the blood off my face gently, she grabbed a cotton ball, covered in betadine. I winced as it stung, my eyes watering even more.

"I am sorry. You don't seem to have any major injuries except for a concussion that we will need to keep a close eye on, Marcus pulled you out of there just before you could have any trace of hypothermia, but with consistent rest, meals and hot baths, your physical injuries should heal just fine." She turned off the tap, the scent of rosewood and jasmine filled the air, slowly relaxing my muscles as her words comforted me. "The emotional trauma however will take time." Rosalie's eyes softened as she helped me remove my wet clothes or what was left of them to help me into a comfortable position in the bath. I contemplated her words and pondered on how to ask her how she knew without offending her.

"Rosalie... How long did it take you to-o... heal." I usually hesitated asking questions about their pasts as Edward didn't want me to know the specifics as if it would deflower my 'soul.' Rosalie took a deep breath and hesitated before answering my question. I expected her to give me a snide or a smart remark to remind me it was none of my business but she spoke to me as if she was really acknowledging me as a person for the first time.

"Everyone is different but in order for you to understand I need to tell you my story from the beginning. If that's okay?" She brought a bowl of salt water and sat on the stool, moving closer to clean my wounds. I sucked in a deep breath and was yet again surprised at how gentle she was being with me.

"You can tell me anything, a distraction at this point is something I need." She wiped the white cloth against my skin, removing dirt and debris from my body. Rosalie began telling her story and as she took care of me I became engrossed in her words and I closed my eyes letting the heat of the water relax my aching muscles.

"The world that you live in Bella was far from the one I experienced growing up. I was born in Rochester, New York, 1915, by the time I turned 18 there were things I still wanted. To be married to a nice husband who kissed me when he came home. A family of my own. Royce King was the most eligible bachelor in town. I barely knew him. But I was young. I was in love with the idea of love." Rosalie frowned as she remembered her first encounter with the man she thought too, like Bella did with Edward, would love her til her dying days. "When I had my first encounter with Royce, my mother and father had planned it all out. My father had forgotten his lunch one day, while he was working at the bank, hoping I'd catch the eye of the son of the bank owner, and of course there plan worked. The next day was the first of many that I received bouquets from Royce." She remembered distinctively that he had compared her eyes to resemble the colour of violets. "We corresponded for a while and a week before our wedding I visited my friend Vera who had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. I envied her and I was right to do so, seeing the way she was with her husband made me realise there was no genuine love between Royce and I, only mutual attraction for our physical appearances. So that night, I decided to walk home and tell Royce we were making a mistake." Rosalie turned her hands to ward the new task of washing Bella's hair without causing her too much pain. "I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings because I was preparing to muster up the courage to speak with him, but, I had run into him far sooner than I thought. He was out with his friends bragging about my beauty, encouraging them all in their intoxicated state. I told him to go home, he was drunk and that I would see him tomorrow to discuss our wedding, but as you can imagine he didn't like being told what to do. Nor does any man like to be nowadays." Rosalie thought of the love she shared with Emmett to continue her story, knowing all too well, everyone in the house was listening, they couldn't help themselves as they assumed there was nothing more to her than her Ice Queen exterior.

"By the time Carlisle had found me, he smelt all the blood, I was wishing for death to find me then. I thought he would end my agony, but in that moments I believed he made it worse. I never wanted this life and I'd never wish it upon anyone. But they all got what was coming for them eventually, and I saved Royce for last, so he'd know I was coming. I was a bit theatrical back then and I wore a wedding dress to the extreme, pearls, veil and all." Bella turned her head towards Rosalie, her eyes looking her up and down imagining the worst of frills and lace. I smiled then because I knew Rosalie would look stunning in anything, even a potato sack and Rosalie knew it. Rosalie smiled back at me and continued.

"I killed them all, and I prolonged Royce's torture and in that moment I began to heal. It was when I found and turned Emmett, that the process of healing really began. His love for me from the moment he opened his eyes and from that day onwards has healed me emotionally more than anyone would know." Rosalie helped me out of the bath, and turned towards the pile of clothes she had on the countertop. I was never more grateful that Rosalie understood my need for comfortable clothing, rather than disregarding me, like Alice usually did. My respect for Rosalie increased hugely, I did not think she would have been so kind to me before, but hearing her story, brought tears to my eyes.

I focussed on Marcus's voice outside of the door, he was talking in Italian at very rapid pace, and I had the sense that he was talking about me and what had happened. I was more than embarrassed and I was hoping he did not reveal the true extent of her injuries. Rosalie helped me sit on the stool, changing the angle so I would not have to face the mirror just yet. She began slowly brushing the knots from hair. It reminded me of when I was little, it something Renee only ever did when she could not do it herself. It send shivers down my spine, with how gentle Rosalie was being. "Rosalie... Why did you offer to help me? After James's hunting me down and celebrating my birthday you made it clear that you didn't like me." Rosalie sighed and often reflected the way she treated Bella over the time she was with Edward, only Emmett knew the extent of how she felt, she blocked Edward from her thoughts too often for him to care about what she was thinking.

"You can call me Rose, Bella and I never disliked you... I envy you." Rosalie seemed like she was no embarassed to tell me that. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Someone who looked as beautiful as her, envied someone as plain as me? "You're going to be giving up a life I wish I had. I sided with Edward in regards to you not becoming immortal not because I don't have any aversion to you being my sister but because I would have wanted someone to vote no for me. Just experience life more before you make the decision to be like us that's all I ask when you're healed. Travel the world and explore who you are, because once you're turned you'll only want one thing Bella, blood." I liked that Rosalie... Rose was being honest with me and for once I considered her words. By the time she was done blow drying my hair, my stomach growled and there was a knock on the door. Esme had walked in slowly so she didn't startle me.

"Bella, I brought up some food for you to eat, I wasn't sure what you wanted so I made the basics; toast and eggs." Her tone turned from soothing to almost sobbing. "I'm so sorry Bella, sweetheart, I argued against Edward when he told us not to say goodbye, you're family." Rosalie helped me stand so I could wrap my arms around Esme, she didn't deserve my rage.

"Esme, it's going to be okay, thank you for the food. Rose can you please help me to the bed." I noticed Marcus was pacing the room anxiously waiting for me to return to the room. By the time she did what I asked and was halfway through the food, utter exhaustion seeped through me as I relaxed into the mattress. Marcus's eye raked over me I knew that I looked better and worse at the same time. Rosalie nodded in his direction and handed him the bottle of Tylenol.

"Make sure she takes these after she's finished, if it doesn't help I'll give her some morphine. I'll be back if you need me Bella, or if you just want some female company. Emmett was waiting for her outside the room and before the door was shut I saw his face full of sadness. I need to speak with him as soon as possible. My internal musings were yet again interrupted as Marcus took a seat next to my side of the bed. He placed the pills on the bed side table and asked if he could hold my hand.

"Mia Bella, you look better than before. May I ?" He rubbed his other hand gently over my knuckles when I extended my hand to him. "Have you finished eating my sweet?" His tone was soft, comforting almost. I nodded and he removed the tray from my lap while handing me a glass of water and two of the pills. I placed them both in my mouth and took a mouthful of water, wincing as they slid down my throat. He looked at me and smiled. The hand he was holding he squeezed.

"I believe I have not formally introduced myself. I am Marcus Volturi." I'd imagine he would get up and bow. I snorted, and cringed, it was a habbit i had that embarassed me. I shook his hand back.

"Well, you seem to know more then just my name. The Denali's informed you about me?" Marcus turned my hand over, inspecting every inch.

"We received a drop in by Irina Denali, she had relayed information about Carlisle's son having a human knowing our existence, and that he had no plans of changing her. Aro found this interesting as Carlisle lived with us for many years." His accent was harsher, the more he spoke to me.

"I know Carlisle had called them to help us out with James." Marcus turned his head in confusion. He perched up in his chair to his full height, he would really over shadow me if we were to stand side by side. He was just as big as Emmett if not bigger and I never thought that was ever possible.

"Who's James?" Marcus frowned.

"Tanya didn't tell you the full story?" I was confused as to why would she call to tell them the Cullen's had broken the law if she had not told them the full story? Would Marcus hurt them for what she had said?

"Only Irina had come to Volterra. The others were not present." Marcus's tone was worried, I was worried. There was still more then one issue present in Fork's due to James. I shuddered, I was not sure if I was ready to tell him just yet what had happened. He sense the tension in the room and changed the subject over to Edward.

"Bella... I'm sorry I have to ask you this, but, we have to deal with the issue at hand, what do you want to happen to Edward?" His expression was guarded, as if he was not sure how I was going to react to that question.

I gaped at Marcus's question, although the thought had crossed my mind I did not know how far Edward's punishment would extend. I began pulling the blankets slowly towards me, contemplating an answer for his question, I felt that my only response was to answer his question with more questions.

"You mentioned earlier that Edward had broken one of the most sacred laws in the vampire world, which law would that be and how far does the punishment extend to those who break it?" My tone drifted from anger to curiosity, wondering just how far my selflessness would extend even to those who had severely hurt me. After all, I learnt a long time ago that I should have put myself first.

"Mia Bella, Danneggiare quelli compagni, la punizione peggiore di tutti, sorry I forget you don't speak much if any Italian- Never harming another's mate is one of the most sacred laws we have to ensure the safety of our soul mate bonds and they would receive the worst punishment imaginable from the mate or by us if they are unable to." Marcus's tone promised revenge and justice for Bella as he had already set his plan in motion of what he was going to do to Edward, if Bella would allow it that is.

I froze upon hearing the word 'soulmate,' triggering my anxiety and disbelief, knowing Edward had lied to me about everything. The hole in my chest flared bright, causing the golden hew of their bond to fade slightly. "Bella, I know it's all too much for you to take in right now, but we will have this conversation, mia amore, when you are ready. I do not expect anything from you and I will wait patiently for you." His words toned down the sudden feelings of panicking, I was feeling relief that time was on my hands for once and it was now up to me to decide my own fate. Just as it should have been to begin with. It just proved to me just how controlling Edward had been over my choices, opinions and decisions.

"I would like revenge Marcus but I have never had it in me to hurt others like they have hurt me, but after hearing Rosalie's story and how she began to heal... I know he needs to feel and suffer 100x more of what he put me through." Fiery passion blazed through my eyes as I thought of hurting him seven ways to Sunday but the thought of my humanity made me rationalise my thoughts. I couldn't hurt Edward if I was human. Marcus noticed the fire slowly drain from my eyes, wondering what suddenly changed my mood.

"Mia cara, what is wrong?" He smiled at me softly to encourage me to open up a little more, he seemed to be more than interested in what I had to say.

"I couldn't actually ever hurt Edward like he did with me... I'm human, I'd hurt myself just trying to poke them." I almost laughed remembering times with Jasper and Emmett, when they'd game and I'd hurt myself out of frustration of losing more rounds than winning, and I had hurt myself one way or another when I did win. Marcus grinned, and my face bagn to feel hot as I blushed a striking red.

"Bella, I have been around for over a millennial and believe me, there are ways even humans can hurt vampires, you just have to know the right people." He winked at me making me giggle and for once I did not feel as worthless as before. His words sunk in, a millennial? A millennial? My eyes popped open wide, he was over 1000 years old?

"You-You're over 1000 years old?" He laughed at my expression. I could not believe he was that old. I mean, it made sense, that he was a lot older than Carlisle but I could not quite grasp by just how much older he was.

The glint in Marcus's eye made the curiosity that I already felt almost double in intensity, as his eyes held promise and mischief all in the one moment. If I hadn't been prone to identifying the abnormal behaviour vampires possessed I would have passed off his reaction as just trying to make me feel better. All in all, his efforts worked but something in my gut told me that Marcus had already put plans of Edward's demise into motion, so I couldn't help but ask him.

"Marcus... What happened after I lost consciousness?" Marcus's expression turned to concern, knowing I wouldn't like the gory details. He took a deep breath and brought the palm of my hand closer to his face, my scent calming the rage buried within his soul. He kissed my palm watching the heat rise to my cheeks, flushing down my chest, he smiled for a brief moment noting cheekily that the blush would have spread further. He shook his head at his impure thoughts were inappropriate for the time being.

"Isabella, the moment I saw him above you in such a degrading manner, mia, forgive me, the forgotten rage within me took over. You see... I did rip him off you but I wanted to do more than that in the moment. I showed him what happens when a vampire breaks the law, not only that, but what happens when you hurt the soul mate of a Volturi King." He paused turning his gaze to the window, memories of another life time surfaced, of his Didyme and the barbaric torture of the Romanian's who had kidnapped his beloved and tortured her to the point her insanity drove her to suicide. The Children of the Moon, purebred werewolves were already after her, knowing that if she died their need for retaliation against the near extinction of their kind from the hands of Aro, would be restored as the death of his sister nearly ruined the King's ruling.

"Forgotten rage? What...? Where is he?" My heartbeat sped up, panic setting my senses into overdrive. Marcus turned to look at me as Jasper poked his head through the door, sensing he was needed immediately but with their past he was wary of the Volturi King. I was a bit hesitant to let him in the room, but it was not his fault, what happened the other night. He looked me up and down, and I could tell he was not trying to stare. As he got closer he pulled up another chair, to sit on the other side of me.

"Hey, Jasper." I greeted Jasper, shock was beginning to take over my body completely. My confusion and panic rose not understanding what Marcus was talking about as the painkillers thrummed through my bloodstream, causing my mind to start to drift into darkness. As Jasper's face came closer to mine his eyes were filled with shame, I could tell instantly he regretted what had happened. I grabbed his hand, something I had not done ever before, and I gave it a squeeze. He let me, let go and I smiled at him. Despite my own emotional turmoil, I was still willing to make sure he was okay. He did not deserve to be treated terribly, just because he had tried to eat me. It was bound to happen with his gift making the desire worse, especially living and dealing with 5 other vampire blood lusts.

"Bella, darling, you need to relax okay? Don't worry about him for now. Would you like me to help? It would help you to heal quicker." He knew all too well that I never put my needs before anyone else's so adding a little persuasion to his words made my resolve crumble. I ran a hand sluggishly through my hair and nodded slowly, the idea of escaping reality bloomed relief through my body. Jasper looked towards Marcus who slowly nodded his head, giving Jasper permission to take care of his me. I took a deep breath and sunk into the mattress and for once, I gave into my own needs.

 **(Jasper's POV-before he see's Bella)  
** Alice was sitting by my side in the living room, her hand was in mine, she was squeezing it tight, a small smile on her face provided me with little comfort. We were all sitting there waiting, my body was tense, all my emotions were on edge and on a constant haywire as Marcus's Guard was sitting across from us. Jane's glare with Alec standing behind her, was intimidating however the Major in me was thrumming to come out, to protect my family. They did not scare me as much as Marcus did. I wanted to bury my face in my hands, the constant guilt I had felt for nearly attacking and killing Bella, had raged into my soul. For once, I truly felt like the monster Maria had created... My internal struggle was interrupted by Alice tugging on the lock of my hair, her dainty hand, her beautifully unmarred skin of porcelain distracted me as her scent wafted in my face. My mate, calmed me. Her scent consisted of a sparkling orange, lemon and linen, it reminded me of my mother's perfume, delicate with violet jasmine and mimosa. Her wide eyes were a sexy amber, sheer wood and musky side too but burned as bright as the sun when she was absolutely happy. She is the light at the end of my tunnel.

Bella's heart rate monitor was beeping into a frenzy, Marcus was murmuring to her, we could only just hear them. She was panicking over Edward. As she would, Edward had loved her and burnt her in a way, that a human was not capable of emotionally returning from. He had manipulated her mind, emotions, thoughts and choices. It was a classic example of Stockholm syndrome and we never saw it coming but we should have done.

"Jasper, go to her please. She needs you, it'll be okay. I'll be waiting for you outside the door until you need me." Alice whispered, stroking my face, Jane and Alec looked away at her blatant display of affection. My chest began to rumble, I did not trust them enough to leave Alice with them. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me. Emmett flexed, as Rosalie stood behind him next to the couch. I knew both of them would be able to handle themselves, if a fight broke out. I made my way up the stairs and nerves fluttered my system. Bella's face was barely bruised when she had arrived in Marcus's arms. I did not want to imagine how much worse it looked with in our eyes, as our vision was beyond perfect.

I knocked on the door, and poked my head through looking towards Marcus for his approval, he growled but nodded. The rumbling unsettled Bella, she turned to look at me and all I tried to show her in my gaze was that I was so sorry for nearly taking her life and that I never meant for her to get hurt. She smiled at me. It was my fault. I averted my gaze trying not to seem like I was staring at her bruises, after all no one looked me in the eye, as my face was marred with the war wounds of my past; tiny crescent bite marks, forever embedded into my face, making me look like the predator I truly was.

"Hey, Jasper." She greeted me, inviting me in, shock was taking over her body completely, her strong emotions were hard to control, she always felt everything with a severe passion. Her confusion and panic rose not as she must not have been understanding what Marcus was talking about as the painkillers thrummed through her bloodstream, her eyes were closing, I sent a small wave of calm through her.

"Bella, darling, you need to relax okay? Don't worry about him for now. Would you like me to help? It would help you to heal quicker." I knew all too well that she never put any her needs before anyone else's so adding a little persuasion to my words made her resolve crumble. She nodded slowly, the idea of escaping reality bloomed relief through her body. I looked towards Marcus who slowly nodded his head, giving me permission to take care of his mate. I radiated peace slowly across the room, just enough for her too drift off, the drugs in her system made it easier but with the constant immediate whiplash of Bella's emotions it had begun to weigh into my body. Marcus's emotions were just as intense and I could feel the rage and power flowing into the room effortlessly from him, adding to the inconsistency. A rage similar to a newborn filtered his aura, however his exuded wisdom as well. He was a King and newly mated after all.

As my her heartbeat relaxed more so did Marcus's posture. We both breathed a sigh in relief knowing she wouldn't be in any pain for a few hours at least. Marcus's eyes glazed over he must have been slowly looking at their bond. I had heard from Edward and Carlisle that Marcus possessed the gift of sight, similar to Alice but with relationships, auras and bonds. He would need to take care of Bella as I imagined the state of her original ties, had the possibility of being broken. Marcus's emotions began to overshadow mine. Gratitude slowly seeped into the air bringing Marcus's attention to Bella's bond with me.

"Thank you, Jasper." Marcus turned to look me in the eyes, something many had trouble doing, as I bore the upbringing of my newborn years across most, if not, all of my skin, my face wasn't as marred in bite marks as the rest of my body was. It was a sign of respect and manners I only ever received from Alice wholeheartedly. I nodded not really knowing what to say, the words I yearned to express were caught in my throat, imagining what she had been through and how much worse she could have been if Marcus hadn't tracked her down and stepped in. I did consider her to be my little sister, She reminded me of my own back in Texas. I remembered a little blonde, blue eyed beauty whose name I had long forgotten. She reminded me of the selflessness and cheekiness I had once had as a human. It was something I never knew I needed until I met her. Her glow and outlook to life, despite the bleak circumstances she was always in radiated through her emotions. My gift automatically drifted towards those who were on the chipper side, so meeting Alice was inevitable. I wanted to do more than break Edward's kneecaps, the major inside of me was screaming to protect my family.

"I'm sorry that we did not do a better job at protecting her. I should have known." Marcus's jaw clenched in frustration. I looked towards the floor as guilt and shame filtered across my face. Marcus seemed to have sense that something terrible had happened between Bella and I, his chest rumbled.

"You're not wrong but she is safe now. How could you have known?" Marcus's phone rang the ringtone startling her heartbeat, I quickly pulled me into a deeper sleep. Not wanting to disturb Bella further I lowered his voice, my Southern drawl thick as my emotions ran high. He turned the phone on silent taking note of the next few words I said when his eyes drifted to a figure in the doorway. It was Alice. She stood in the doorway with her head bowed showing respect and submission, Marcus relaxed slowly taking note of the Guard who appeared outside the door behind her and the premises. He nodded and Alice walked forward, raising her hand to me should to comfort me.

"It's okay, Jazz, you can tell him." Her words rang in my ears, I knew I needed to be punished for nearly killing a King's Mate. I knew the rules of the Volturi so my next few words bore caution.

"There was an incident on her birthday... We awaited Bella's arrival to her party in the living room. As it got to opening gifts, Bella managed to cut her finger open on one of them. Edward made her wounds worse, he was erratic with thirst and hunger. He slammed her into the plates across the room, there was blood everywhere. I lunged at her...' I stopped remembering the look of fear of her face, knowing I had caused that reaction from her, made me want to be sick. I never meant to hurt her at all. Marcus tilted his head motioning for me to continue. "Carlisle and Emmett were lucky to hold me back and got me out of there but I almost killed her." The guilt overwhelmed me and I had to pull away from Bella. Marcus turned to look at her sweet doe like face, the bruising harsher now, an Edward shaped hand print covered most of her face, her left eye swollen shut. The longer he sat the more anxious I felt. He looked at me and answered solemnly.

"No harm, no foul. However..." My face tilted up, shock rising to the centre of my chest, it was a swell of relief. I awaited Marcus's words with a baited breath. "You did not mean to hurt her Jasper. If you did not realise you had more then one vampire's urges thrown at you all at once. We would be delusional into thinking our kind does not make mistakes just because we hold immortality. Perfection is futile when you need imperfections to make perfection. I, however, do not give second chances often, so take note." I nodded, and bowed my head in respect as did Alice. Alice smile slowly at Marcus.

"Than-..' Marcus waved his hand in the air, cutting off Alice mid-sentence. Something which was not done often. She closed her mouth promptly shocked at being shut down so quickly. Rosalie finally entered the room as Marcus's phone went off for the fifth time.

"You can leave now Jasper, if it is too much for you." Rosalie said as I stood and bid my farewell, leaving the room to sit with the others downstairs. Rosalie had begun checking the machines and IV drips, slowly upping the dosage every hour. For now I was safe.

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 **Let me know what you guys think, leave a review please. :)**


	4. Chapter 4:Edward's Demise,New Beginnings

**Summary:** _"His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."  
_

 **Rating:** Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing, except for the story line!

 **A/N: So sorry for the wait. I've been inspired by other fandoms at the moment, check out Forbidden Love if you're into Harry Potter- more so Hermione and Severus together. Love a good pairing. I am also currently writing my own novel.**

 **Thank you for the reviews- I love the questions, shows that you guys are interested, but unless there is 100% confusion- I won't reveal spoilers. But ideas are appreciated.**

 **How is everyone? Let me know if this is too much for you guys to read I can break it down so that each chapter is just one person's POV but to me it is always interesting to read from different perspectives.**

 **CHAPTER 4: EDWARD'S DEMISE, JANE'S SURPRISE AND NEW BEGINNINGS**

 **(Edward's POV)**

Marcus's slammed into me throwing all of his strength into removing me from my prey. I was enraged that Bella began to crawl away, but I revelled in her breathing coming out of her in ragged bursts. Felix appeared behind Marcus as he slammed me against the nearest rock, Marcus's thoughts wild with the need to protect his new mate. Marcus roared in a fit of rage seeing the bruises bloom across her skin from the corner of his eyes. Marcus fangs extended, making Edward shudder in fear for the first time as he read Marcus's mind. Marcus showed him of the closest torture chambers, wishing they were in Italy utilising Caius's chamber as it held all kind of tools made from other vampires, which held the ability to tear into vampire flesh without the body repairing itself immediately. Marcus's showed me what my future days would look like, encased in blood, guts and torment.

I shuddered at the memories of what Marcus did to the last man who murdered his late mate, Didyme, who was Aro's beloved sister. Marcus began tearing into my body, ripping off his arms first, then his legs, to keep him from escaping his wrath. I screamed in agony, writhing trying to escape from his clutches. I did not succeed and darkness invaded my vision, as my head was stuffed into a bag.

My senses were cloaked in a dark thick fog, my sight, sense of smell and hearing was slowly ripped from me from Alec, Jane was not too far behind him. The only thing that was keeping me in the loop was reading Alec's mind, Alec's gift could not block my own, bringing a whole new feeling to the amount of fear I had. My arms and legs were reattached earlier, only to be continually be ripped from me again, the healing process was being slowed down, I had heard Alec think about it earlier, pondering on the possibilities in which Marcus was going to use to torture me.

Marcus had bound me down to a steel table, the cuffs and chains were made from Adamantium, a virtually indestructible steel alloy, developed by an American metallurgist known as Dr Myron Maclain, during the Second World War. Caius had been orchestrating that development for months, forging weapons combined with vampire bones to penetrate vampire flesh, proving that vampires were not yet indestructible as they seemed. He left the original stone walls, embellished with the blood, skin and flesh of his victims, the scent was putrid and one of the foulest I had ever briefly smelt. I was thankful for Alec's gift even if it did burden the situation, however I had an inkling in Alec's thoughts that I wasn't going to escape the scent for too much longer. I shuddered, my torso arched, the restraints held me down and I was not used to my strength being thwarted before. Even if James was a tough fight in the ballet studio, I still held his own. Carlisle would save me, he always would save his beloved son. His first companion into this life. His compassion would not allow me to suffer like this.

My thoughts were brought short as Alec's thought's were alerted to a presence entering the borderline of their property. Heidi, Felix, Afton and Chelsea were sent to the Cullen's home to protect Marcus and his mate, Bella, Jane and Alec were there to keep an eye on their Master's prisoner, to make sure I would not escape. Jane snickered to Alec as she eyed my pathetic attempt to remain calm. Alec heard other noises coming from the west side of the perimeter and was confused as to who it was as his phone had not alerted him to the whereabouts of the others. He turned to Jane and put an arm on her shoulder, to calm his twin down.

"Jane, my dear sister, take a walk around the perimeter, please keep an eye... out." He laughed with glee, knowing full to well that Jane's gift was magnifico. Their eyes shone a bright, crimson red, full of the live they had drained a day ago during one of Heidi's gatherings in their newest home. Hopefully they would not be in the area for much longer. Alec hated staying away from their home in Italy for too long. He turned his gaze back to me, offering his left hand to keep the smoke swirling around my face. He would not try anything for now.

I shuddered again, my breathing being broken up into harsh quick bursts. The chill in my bones from Alec's gift had me quivering in fear but the chains did not allow much, if any, room for movement. I could not curl up to protect myself by any means. Alec's mind turned towards where I was, knowing full to well that I could not block him out of my head. He was purely disgusted by my behaviour, he thought I brought shame to the Vampire community. Alec brought his thoughts to Bella, knowing I would suffer mental torture as it was just as horrific, if not worse than physical torture. He showed me the state I had left Bella in. The bruises blooming across her body as they had found her crawling away from them in the flooded forest. She had chunks of blood, swirling down the back of her head and neck, all the way down her torso, her face full of pure terror. He knew I would not be able to bear with the thought of hurting the women I supposedly loved, however I did not react in the way Alec thought I was going to. I started laughing as the onslaught of images filtered through my head as I read Alec's mind. My work was on full display, and I was taking a thrill in it. I was killer after all.

* * *

 **(Marcus's POV)  
** "Felix and Alec, take him to the estate and put him in the cellar furthest from the house, below the sewers- you know the room, we utilised it in the Romanian War." Alec gathered the arms and legs throwing them in separate bags as I slowly detached Edward's head from the rest of his body, taking pleasure in hearing him scream even for a brief moment. Felix threw the rest in separate bags, smirking, knowing all too well of the fate that awaited Edward as he had witnessed my rage before. I took a deep breath feeling the golden flair of my renewed bond, slowly threading tightly with Isabella's weak, slither of a silver thread, hopefully healing most of Edward's damage to their 'bond.'

I walked towards her, slowly pushing the hair out of her face, noticing the clot of blood at the back, tangled between large knots of her hair clumped together. I hissed as I saw the distinct hand print across her face. I picked her up 'bridal' style all to worried for her injuries and the lack of colour in her cheeks. The rain that was pelting down began to slowly retreat, ironically symbolising the calm after a storm. Jane, Chelsea and her mate Afton would have made it to the Cullen's by now informing them of my unexpected visit, so I headed north towards their house, leaving Alec and Felix to their task. I sniffed sensing Demetri's arrival roughly 20 minutes away as Bella whimpered in her sleep, I imagined that she was envisioning the impending nightmare of the recent trauma she experienced, I began growling softly thinking of the boy's stupidity and callous actions he had done to his woman.

As Irina Denali, one of 5 of the Cullen's cousin adopted offsprings had come to the Volterra, 3 days ago to warn them of what the Cullens had been planning. Aro warned us of what he had seen in Irina's thoughts about the human they were keeping and the law that they had broken was one of the most sacred laws they had. Aro had insisted that I was to be the one to sort out this mess as I had not left the castle in awhile, in my depressed, catatonic state, I hibernated in my rooms, not bothering to see to the issue until Aro had threatened my dear collections, promising to burn them with our next horde Heidi brought through.

However, Aro had informed me that Edward had convinced the human that she was his mate due to our allure blinding her into thinking the love they shared was real and mutual. When Aro explained that her bond with him was nothing more than the 'La tua cantante; meaning the bond of a singer,' the built up rage hidden beneath a black hole of dark emotions rose to the surface, the real me, the warrior, emerged. The guard still flinch whenever I entered the room, as they all believed that I was the weakest link of the three Kings. I smirked remembering the blatant shock on everyone's face, especially Aro's. Cauis's smirked at my dramatic return as he had expected some event or person would trigger it with anger. I had torn down the mahogany stained doors as I strutted towards Aro, almost losing a quarter of the guard on the way, demanding an explanation of the current events with the Cullen's if he was going to threaten me. Aro grabbed my hand eagerly assessing the nature of my rage with glee, he was nearly bursting at the seams, excited at the possible drama that was to unfold. I knew he wanted the most gifted of the Cullen Clan to join our empire.

I tuned back in to my mate breathing in her scent of freesia and honey, soothing the rage, as well as reminding me of the maze like garden of my youth where I spent most of my time. I began to take in her features noting just how small she really was against my frame, not just in height but her weight as well, she couldn't be more then 100 pounds, 110 at most, especially if her height was around 5'5. Her hair was long, close to her waist, I also noticed strands of auburn and honey in her chestnut coloured hair, highlighting her pale complexion, which rivaled mine. Holding her closer to my chest, I became aware that her figure was not as curvy as it should be, she was not at all lacking, she just needed to put more weight on to be considered healthy. What caught my attention more was her doe like eyes, the colour of a rich, dark chocolate, surrounded with black, long, lashes. As soon as I made eye contact with her, her desperate emotion of hope for ending her life, made me almost lose control completely, it tearing me up on the inside knowing that my mate wanted death.

As soon as I made eye contact with her, our bond glowed and thrummed demanding to be completed, shining as bright and as golden as the Volturi Crest hanging on my chest, slowly intensifying as time passed. The sound of her wet, thudding heartbeat had venom flowing through my mouth, making my fangs ache, wishing to end her agony by making her mine for all of eternity.

I didn't know what she wanted especially from all that she experienced with our kind, so I didn't expect her to want to be turned as eagerly as before. I would never deny her anything but I would not take opportunities away from her, she deserved freedom. As she began to stir, moaning in pain I began to walk faster hoping not to startle her.

* * *

 **(JANE'S POV)**

I turned to hear the laughter as I exited the room, I shook it off, hearing the crackle of twigs ahead of me, someone was running away from the property, I caught a glimpse of fiery, red hair in the distance gliding along the trees, hiding. To a human she would be hiding in plain sight and they still would not see her. I pulled up my hood to hide my form, and started walking towards the woman, hiding in the shadows as well as my cloak hid my scent from the oncoming wind. My feet glided along the floor as if I was walking on air.

I followed the woman, and as I got closer, my gift was able to reach the feral redhead on the floor, she was screaming and writhing in pain. Her bones grinding against each other, it filled me with joy to protect my coven.

"Who are you?" My eyes darted across the woman, my British, childlike tone filled the redhead's eyes with terror. I stopped my gift after I pinned the woman down with the heel of my boot. Demetri had trained the whole Guard with precision, so the red head would not escape unscathed. She groaned and placed her hands on my foot. She did not respond to my question so I put more pressure on her throat, the porcelain skin cracking, her breathes were barely coming through, after all we didn't need to breathe to survive. I looked the red head up and down, her clothes we're tattered and her body was covered in dirt. She must have been a nomad for sure. However, I noticed a sliver of silver along the woman's wrist. I bent down and snatched it. Dog Tags? I thought that to be odd. The name read James. It was an old school version from the first World War. It seemed as if the Volturi's job to sort out their kinds issues we're never over, at least this one provided mystery. I flipped my phone open and snapped a photo of the woman and sent it to Afton. He was a tech specialist, close behind Around with their combined obsession. He would be able to trace and track this woman surely. I sent a photo of the dog tags, hoping he could find the serial code in the system. To me, it was all mumbo jumbo.

I awaited for a text but for the meantime I ripped the woman's head off as I made her writhe in pain to distract her from attacking. I pulled out a few cotton bags, throwing her matching body parts inside. I dragged the body back with ease, however I knew in my stomach something was not right about this woman. I unlocked the door and found Alec in the same position as before. The cloud of smoke simmering through the the air always had me in awe.

"Ah you've returned, I see. With a gift? " Alec clasped his hands together, his jet black suit matched his hair. I frowned.

"No, SHE'S more of a mystery." I walked to the right of the room opening up the second stall, I placed the woman's thriving body parts, venom was leaking out the bottom of the one with her head in it. Victoria was pissed and scared for the first time ever since she had been parted with her mate James.

"SHE?" Alec followed his sister and swirled his smoke around the venom soaked bag, guessing that was the head. He blocked her senses. I pulled the woman's body parts; torso, legs, arms and head and reattached her body. I put the shackles on her arms and legs, very much in a similar fashion to Edward. Edward gasped, he seemed to stop thrashing around on the table, his head turned towards the woman.

Alec looked at the women with fiery red hair, her ragged appearance made him feel as sick to his stomach as I felt.

"I figured she was either apart of a coven, or a nomad on the run." I shuddered. Alec noticed that when I only ever did that was when I had a bad feeling. Alec pulled me into a hug, to comfort me.

"Master Aro and Afton should be able to help us figure out who she is." Alec wasn't worried about that for a second but he knew deep down, a war was brewing, between which covers and species, he wasn't sure. If I had a bad feeling, I was usually right.

* * *

 **(Bella's POV)**

I awoke to the all too familiar sound of the hospital monitors beeping but without the harshness of the blinding lights, my eyes met with a dull lit room, the lights just bright enough to see the room. I slowly drew in a deep breath, the pain in my chest was not as bad as it had been the day before. My stomach growled almost angrily, the hunger inside of me was driving my body mad. I slowly rubbed the sleep from my eyes, wincing when I got too close to the bruising on the left side of my face. I knew I must have looked almost as bad as I had when I faced James in the Ballet Studio. I knew exactly where I was and. _I am in the Cullen home, I am safe._ I kept the mantra simple to ease myself out of the fog, Jasper's gift always made me uneasy, but the medication I was given always made me groggy and grumpy.

I turned my gaze towards the left side of me, the chair I had last seen Marcus in was now absent. Panic settled into my core, my chest tightening, my heart rate increasing rapidly. The monitor set off an alarm, the beeping was even more unsettling against the rare hush of noise throughout the house. Marcus popped his head back into the room, the door ajar from afar. Something I did not notice before. The monitor began to slow which each step Marcus took towards me, relief flooding through me, as my body began to sink back into the bed, my body felt even worse than it had the day prior. I licked my chapped lips, my mouth filled with dried saliva and I needed to attend to the bathroom as soon as possible to brush my teeth. The pillows behind my head were throwing me off balance as they were flat and lumpy, adding to my discomfort. Even though I had thought I had wanted to welcome death, I was grateful that the pain I felt, meant that I was alive, truly alive and free for the first time in a long time.

"Marcus?" I turned my face and he was there, sitting back in his chair, his face a foot from mine, his chin was resting against his hand, his elbow against the arm. He looked me up and down, worry was still in his gaze.

"Yes, mia amore?" He grabbed my hand as to ease his constant nagging in his mind, to comfort his mate. He held it gently in his, careful not to disrupt the needle and wire from disconnecting the fluids running through my system. He was waiting for meto respond patiently.

"I was worried, I woke up alone." I muttered the words, hoping he believed me, it was in fact because I had woken up in the darkness, unaware of what awaited in the shadows as I had dreamt of Edward's face, they were both in the meadow this time, sitting amongst the ever growing bundles of flowers. The bright purple and yellow made me feel at home. He was my home. At least I thought he was. I gazed off even further into the distance, a flash of painful memories of my dream were making me shudder in fear. It had turned more violent the quicker I had protested against Edward's unwanted advances. I took a deep breath and he seemed to know I must have had a harder time waking up whilst being put on the morphine, and whilst having Jasper's gift putting me out did not help me at all.

"I'm sorry, the phone call with Aro took a lot longer than I thought. I had to check on the guard as well." I knew I must have seemed needy and clingy towards a man I had only just properly met, but something in my core told me he was telling me the truth about them being a mated pair. I covered my face with the other hand to hide my shame, I knew I must have been a burden to his guard that were here, after all they had more responsibilities than dealing with a minor mishap with one human. Or so I thought.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, my eyes filling with tears, it filled me with anger and with the whiplash of emotions I brushed the tears away from my face roughly, pushing down on the bruises on my face making me gasp as the pain throbbed with each one of my heartbeats. The monitor I was wearing was following my every mood swing, it made me want to rip the tracker off my pointer finger and smash it across the room. So I didn't have to hear that obnoxious noise any more. Edward's words echoed in my head again, making me feel worse by the minute. _'You were just a distraction... A play thing.'_ How could I have not see it? How could I have been so naive?

"Why are you apologising?" His tone was soft, soothing. It calmed me a little, but my throat was dry. He smiled at me, which made me smile slowly back at him, that even hurt my face. He looked at my face, his eyes darting up and down, eyeing the hand print across my cheek. It was one of the injuries I would have the most hard time trying to cover up. He grabbed my cup from the bedside table and brought the straw to my lips. His gaze made me feel vulnerable, I blushed.

"For... Being... So jittery, paranoid, clingy." I rushed my last words hoping he wouldn't say too much or worse, agree with me. Like Edward had, which was meant to be endearing to me but now that I started looking back at his behaviour towards her, he wasn't as nice as I had mistaken him to be. It was as if my brain was in a constant fog. Marcus lent forward, while his other hand slowly turned the lights up so I could see his face more. He brushed his lips against my hand, a small beacon of hope filled my chest.

"Isabella... You're not being clingy. So, stop that. You have been through some heavy emotional and physical trauma. I would not expect you to be any way shape or form other then distressed. But time will help you and so will I." His accent was heavy, as more emotion filled his voice. He turned his head away, he was slowly opening up to me, unlike last night before where I had passed out. Jasper and Marcus were both right though, I would not have been able to handle this conversation. There was a knock at the door just before I began to speak my answer back to Marcus. I turned and pulled the blankets more around me, it seemed to be my only safe strategy. A form of protection, even if it was a measly blanket. Esme entered the room with another tray full of breakfast food. The smell of pancakes and golden syrup almost made my stomach growl, almost insane with hunger.

"Morning, Bella. I could hear your stomach from a mile away." Esme smiled, coaxing a small smile from me. She set the table down and turned to Marcus and bowed. "I am sorry I interrupted." Marcus smiled, waving his hand. Esme looked at us as if she knew something I did not. Her eyes glazed over and were slowly filling with regret. I knew she was kicking herself, that she did not notice how Edward's behaviour affected me. I knew she wasn't one to question and intervene with relationship issues between mates- I know she felt it definitely was not her place, however I knew she must have felt as if she had failed as a mother towards me. After our heartfelt moment in the Baseball field, I knew then she considered me to be apart of the family. She opened and closed her mouth hesitating.

I looked at her whilst I slowly started shovelling the food in to my mouth, I was famished. The hot coffee had burned my tongue but I relished in the sweet and bitter concoction, warming me up from the inside out. It was my favourite beverage after all. I could see Esme was fighting with herself so I turned to her, patting the bed gently on the other side. Esme looked towards Marcus's seeking his approval with her gaze, she did not want to make him uncomfortable as with mating came specific customs, all vampires had to follow.

"Sit, please. I don't mind." Esme breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly sat down her eyes filled with tears that would never spill because of the venom running through her veins. It almost made me sob into my breakfast, it was like I was suffering from a sudden bipolar disorder. Marcus noticed my sudden mood swing and pulled another fresh handkerchief from his suit jacket, it was another engraved with the Volturi Crest, it matched the golden locket around his neck, which also featured their crest but it was placed within the 'V,' the ruby, red pendant shone brightly in the light. It looked just as thick as it must have been heavy for a human, if they ever were to have the privilege to wear them.

"Thank you, Bella." Esme knew it would have been a lot for me to have let her sit with me after, not even 24 hours, after my attack - my trust in Esme was returning as I realised the truth to Rosal... Rose's words- that was something I would need to get used to, Edward had lied to them too it seemed. Betrayed them just as much as he had betrayed me and I could not imagine how Esme would feel after losing her first 'son,' after spending 50 years by his side as well as Carlisle's. I felt sorry for Esme, as she was only trying to keep her family together, she never thought her Edward would do such a horrific thing to someone, let alone his supposed 'love of his life,' but then as she watched Marcus carry me towards the house, her face was filled with anger and disbelief. Esme is a Lioness to her cubs after all, which is why I could not blame Esme for sticking with her son.

I downed the rest of my coffee and sighed as my stomach was heavily full and I was finally free from the cold. I turned to Marcus and smiled, he stood and moved the table from my lap and put it beside the door, knowing Esme would deal with it when she left. Marcus sat down again, the buzzing of his phone was still on a marathon. Aro had more and more questions regarding their bond and if it had manifested into something more concrete. Tell Aro a secret and he becomes the nosiest person in existence. I watched Marcus wiped a hand through his short hair, he was not as accustomed to the short length it seemed as if he had been quite fond of his longer length she had seen in the painting in Carlisle's office. Marcus switched his phone off and looked out the window, taking note of his guard to give the women a form of privacy.

"I forgive you, Esme and I can tell what you are thinking by the look on your face." Esme dropped her head, her palms covering her eyes, she did not want to make me feel guilty, but hearing me say those words made her feel so relieved that I did not want to throw her out of my life completely, even though she would understand 100% why I would do that.

"Oh Bella." She stood and put her arms around me. Esme was hoping to bring a sense of calm and warmth, in the sense of a mother hugging her baby, a comfort that Renee had lacked raising me, Esme knew as much from what Edward had relayed to Carlisle, when I was in the hospital. I revelled in the comfort of my mother figure. I never resented Renee for raising me the way she did, considering she did not do as good of a job as it was expected, but nothing could compare to a hug from Esme. I pulled away from Esme, only to grab her wrist, to check the time on her watch. It read 8:30 am but with the curtains drawn I had felt it to be at least 10:30 at night. My body clock was facing some serious wrath. I tried to count up the days in my head but I could not remember for the life of me what day it actually was. Charlie was going to freak out that I had not called him to tell him of my whereabouts.

"Carlisle rang Charlie last night and explained that you had an fallen asleep whilst being with Alice but we made sure to let him know you were being taken care of and that you were safe. He was extremely worried after you did not answer your phone but we thought that you would want some time to come to terms with you injuries before you see him." Esme could sense that I was more than worried about my father. "I also delivered leftovers, I know you take care of Charlie." Esme was filled with pride with the effort I went to, to make sure my family was safe, happy and fed. It was a goal Esme had strived to achieve ever since Carlisle had welcomed her into this world of immortality. Esme had picked up that skill with ease, there was no doubt in her mind how sad it must have been for me to take on both parental responsibilities.

My heart rate on the monitor relaxed as I took in Esme's words. Esme kissed my forehead and headed for the door, grabbing the tray, wanting to give the two of us some more privacy. Marcus had been quiet for a while, observing the interaction between us as if he knew for sure that we needed it. My relationships with the Cullen's would all be affected it seemed but more than ever it seemed as if for once, it was finally up to me to make my own decisions. I looked down at my hands and I was not too sure where to continue our conversation. I looked up at him to study his features. After all, I had not been as conscious as I had thought when he was carrying me.

His short cropped hair was a rich brown, the dull light seemed to make the shade almost black, his face, all the while it being symmetrical, was not considered to be pretty, as Edward's face had been. But it did not put me off, his sharp jaw line and nose in contrast with the red of his eyes and the thickness of his brows was masculine in all it's glory. He was handsome to the say the least. I could imagine when he was human he had dark brown eyes, or a set of bright blue. I took a deep breath as his eyes were filled with amusement at my blatant goggling. I blushed red and put my head in my hands. I almost laughed.

"I'm sorry." I was never more embarrassed, I did not want Marcus to think I was the sort of woman that would be blatantly crude or promiscuous for checking him out. He smiled at me and laughed. A full, deep-in-the-belly, everyone-can-hear-you-from-miles-away-kind-of laugh. It reminded me of Emmett, but as I watched Marcus's face light up in a way that made him even more handsome, I could not help but notice how good looking he really was. I knew that was not all he had to offer but he really shocked me to my core. Butterflies made their way into my overstuffed stomach as his laughter died down, and he slowly intertwined his hand with mine. The other was placed against his stomach as if he was hurting from laughing so much, it was a glimpse into the humanity Carlisle always spoke about. Deep down, all vampire souls were connected back to their human roots.

He turned to look at me as I peeked out of the hand that was covering my face.

"What's funny?" I frowned and his lips began to twitch as he smiled more. He was breathtaking, truly. His huge broad shoulders, leaned forward, his face inching closer to mine. My heart rate monitor would begoing through the roof, I took a deep breath my blush slowly fading.

"You are. I have not met anyone as refreshing as you are Isabella." His accent was heavy,and for some reason it soothed me. The more he spoke, the more he captivated me. I felt my blood rush to my cheeks, I was always embarrassed by compliments. I never though I fit in with their world but it seems like more than ever Marcus would never make me feel like Edward.

"If you say so, " I shrugged, hoping the blush in my cheeks would die down soon. I never liked the use of my full name but when it came from his lips, it had never sounded better. His eyes twinkles, as if he knew I was not like any other woman. I am humble for everything I have ever been blessed with. My thoughts were interrupted as he traced his finger along the back of my hand. The sleeve of the shirt I was wearing slowly rode up, he hissed and grabbed my wrist gently pushing the fabric back further.

His eyes we're as black as coal, they were filled with so much anger I almost flinched as I made eye contact with him. The jagged scar was the only piece of evidence that the night James almost killed me was real. My foggy memory as Edward had sucked the venom out was blurred and I was occasionally met with dark blanks in my memory due to being unconscious in the hospital for 5 days. I reached my other hand over and gently grabbed his, he let go of my wrist and looked at me, his gaze softening.

"I'm sorry." His tone was gentle but I could tell his patience was running thin. I was wondering what the others we're doing downstairs and I knew they would not be able to help themselves by eavesdropping. I sighed.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." My tone held some form of annoyance but it was far from being directed towards Marcus. My life always felt on display for everybody as my face was always easy to read. Renee, my mother had always said that my face was like an open book. For once, I wish she wasn't right. I took a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for the long story that I was about to give. I felt as though my shoulders were weighed down with the world.

"You can start anytime that you want." His tone was kind, gentle, even patient. It reminded me of how Edward was in the beginning of our relationship. I frowned, trying to push the thought of him away but inevitably he would be mentioned over and over again throughout my story.

"I moved here, just over a year ago, from Phoenix, Arizona to be specific. I lived with my mum, Renee, at the time, her and Charlie, my father, were never settled into a proper routine, as we were well, continents apart." I felt myself in a trance as the words began to pour of of me, thinking of my mother, soaking up the sun without a care in the world always made me green with envy. Her life always seemed to be easy. "Don't get me wrong, I love my mother, I really do, but she was never fit for the role. She had recently just married my step-father Phil and she wanted to travel and be free, rather than have the responsibility of her barely legal daughter. My tone was a bit bitter, I knew my mother would have had trouble raising me a single mother, but I knew without a doubt that I was more of a parent than she was. It filled me with sadness, the hole in my chest was nearly gone but I still felt the remnants of agony I had felt earlier. I cleared my throat and met Marcus's concerned gaze, I smiled at him. I was fine. I continued the story.

"Within the next few weeks, I spent countless moments trying to convince my mother that I was okay with moving to Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. In the end she finally believed me as she dropped me off at the airport and I boarded the flight. Mind you I had no complaints, it had been a while since my father and I had spent any decent time together." I huffed, I was embarrassed that my mother had abandoned Charlie. I blushed as the I spat the next words out. "It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. She could not bear to stay in one place at a time and here, it was a prison. It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen but it was hard for Char-my dad to come and visit, he loves it here." I looked down at my hands, remembering the first night I stayed here as if it was yesterday.

"My Dad had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence as he hated coming down- he hated the heat. By the time I had arrived he'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car. I always felt bad about that, every holiday I made it clear I hated Forks." Marcus was stroking my palm up and down with his fingertips, they were cool against the heat of my hand. I hesitated and looked at him. He was leaning forward, listening to every word. I shook my head and his eyes crinkled.

"Do you really want to know everything?" I blushed. I was ashamed that I spoke terribly of my father, when in reality, I knew I could not live without him. He nodded.

"Of course, I plan on knowing everything there is to know about you, Isabella." His tone was mischievous and it made more butterflies enter my stomach. I squinted at him, but his response seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

"Okay, okay," I put my hands up in a mock surrender, he laughed hard. He grabbed my palm and kissed my knuckle. It was all the support I needed to continue. "Uh, where was I?" I fumbled with the drip, trying to remember my place. "Ah yes, okay, my arrival. The first night I spent here, it was a sleepless night for sure, I was not used to the constant and ever so seemingly persistent storming weather." I scrunched up my nose, the constant hailing still bothered me to this day. "The next day was my first day at Forks High. I was tired the next morning, I had spent most of the night tossing and turning. I was right to not have slept properly though because nothing could have prepared me. On my first day was when I first saw Edward and the others. We had walked into the Cafeteria. I noticed them as soon as I had walked in even though they were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. I noticed their odd behaviour, as they weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, it was uncanny really. So technically it made finding out about your kind much more easier, not that they are to blame. They never wanted me to know. My friend Jacob..." It hurt to say his name as well. "Well he told me after a uh, date, um on the beach." I blushed again as I was not sure if I should mention all of the details but like Marcus had said he wanted to know everything.

"So you dazzled the poor boy?" Marcus grinned and laughed. It made me laugh, I shook my head and then I nodded in acceptance.

"Yes, in other words. I may have, to get the truth." I wanted to put my hands in front of my face. He rubbed my knuckles again.

"Then he did not stand a chance." Marcus's tone was playful. I snorted and continued with the story again.

"So yeah, I noticed them straight away, as if my destiny was intertwined with every step I took, we sat only a few tables away really. That's when I noticed Edward. He was glaring at me ferociously, and I could never understand why until we had our first class together, Biology." I zoned out for a minute as memories began to surface and over take each other, the way Edward had looked at me was very much the way he had before Marcus had saved me. I turned my focus towards Marcus, to bring me out of the fog.

"He spent days avoiding me afterwards, and it was not until he returned that I fell under his spell. He seemed engrossed in our conversation during our only class, but he had a hard time keeping himself in check as he was leaning away from me most of the time. He was trying to get to know me, or so I thought. When I look back now he was never more true to his colours, so to speak. I can see how I missed certain moments of how he tried and very well succeeded in controlling me." I wanted to cry. I knew I would need another break soon. I turned my head to check the time, only an hour had passed and I was hoping the sun would be out soon. I looked towards the curtains, feeling the sudden urge to have some fresh air. Marcus noticed my gaze and slowly stood, walking slowly but determined to open the curtains. My mother was right, I was an open book for sure. He opened them slowly, my eyes adjusting to the sudden harsh light. Relief flooded through me. He walked back over to me and removed the monitor, and the IV drip, regardless of Rose's and Carlisle's instructions.

"Thank you." I grabbed his hand as he helped me sit up, I grabbed the Tylenol and popped one in my mouth to help with the minor pain. I was never more thankful to have Rose's help. She indeed was a life saver. My heart ached for her as she had experienced far worse than I did. The sudden knock on the door startled me, my heart began to race. It was Alice. She popped her head in as Marcus seized his growling. She had a large fluffy jacket in her hand. It was Charlie's. He only ever wore that when he went fishing with Harry Clearwater. I smiled at her and grabbed the jacket almost ecstatically from her hands. The warmth and scent of Charlie's after shave brought me some comfort. She also handed me a pair of thick socks, they were my favourite in winter. I watched her as her eyes looked me over, her face was trying not to scrunch up at my blatant refusal to wear anything nice, but she understood my need for comfort more now than ever. Marcus bent down as I unfolded the socks, he grabbed one from my hand, he rubbed his hands together, it almost made me laugh, as his hands would be cold either way. He grabbed them both and slid them up my feet, the warmth was almost instantaneous. I breathed a sigh in relief and moved to grab the new, beige slippers that were on the end of the bed and handed them to Marcus. He slipped them on and laced them up, not to tight.

I sighed almost content. Alice was still in the room, watching the interaction between us with sad eyes. Marcus helped me stand and she stepped forward, handing Marcus a beanie and scarf, beige just like my slippers. I pulled my curls to the side, platting them, a few stray curls framed my face. I was hoping it would take the harshness away from the bruising. I wrapped the scarf around me and I slowly pulled the beanie on, being careful of the injury to the back of my head. Finally, I was dressed to be outside and it also indicated that the sun was not out yet. Marcus helped me walked to the balcony, his arm intertwined with mine. Esme had recently renovated the balcony, adding a swing chair as well as a built in radiator. It was a perfect little nook to simple read or to just sit and watch the sunset. The blasted chill of the air hit my face. It was refreshing. I was hoping no one else was outside, but to my surprise Marcus's guard was below us. Demetri and some other man, who very much reminded me of Emmett. Marcus noticed my gaze lingering and he held my hand.

"Ah yes. You briefly met Demetri, the other oaf, beside him is Felix." Marcus winked at me as Felix's shocked face turned to greet us. I giggled a little at him. Although I was wary of him just like I had been with Emmett, they were both insanely huge. He was suddenly in front of us, startling me. Marcus growled and Felix took a step back and bowed. His antics were very Victorian to say the least.

"Miss Isabella Swan, I am Felix, Felix Volturi." He offered his hand as if to shake mine, and Marcus hissed as his lips made contact with my hand. He took a step back and grinned.

"You did indeed call me an oaf Master." I laughed a little as my heart beat began to slow down, he was indeed very much like Emmett, not just in his size but with his sense of humour as well. I could tell that we would get along immediately.

"I prefer Bella, actually." I was a little annoyed but it seemed as thought the Volturi were very old fashion in regards to formalities. He smiled at me and winked. I blushed and turned my head to step closer to Marcus, my body moved as if it was on instincts. Felix laughed and jumped down off the balcony to join Demetri again, who was shaking his head with mock disgust.

Marcus pulled me to sit down on the soft cushions and the silence was a break I needed. I sat here for 15 minutes taking in the cool weather. I would continue my story in a moment. I knew rehashing the details would leave me with more emotional trauma than before and Marcus seemed to understand that what I really needed more than ever, was time.

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 **Let me know what you guys think. Chapter 5 is in the making. Stay tuned. You'll find out more soon. 😉**


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